


Predman Hell

by Leroidatboi



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Band, Birthday Party, Concerts, Dead Parents, F/M, Guitars, Helping the Community, I'm finally learning how to do this, Music, Music AU, Racism, The Blame Game on steroids, Trivial plot development, Tropes, Zootopian Police Academy, a hint of keylime to go with your tragedy, being kind, hella angst, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-09-15 19:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9252410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leroidatboi/pseuds/Leroidatboi
Summary: When Nick Wilde is refused the ability to join the ZPD on less than reasonable terms he takes to what he knows best; Music.  As the lead singer for Predman Hell, Nick and the gang have a long road ahead of them to bring life back to the predator communities and relieve Zootopia of it's latest slump.  That silly pop-star Gazelle can only go so far right? Time for another band to take the limelight.still don't own a thing, I bet Disney does though.





	1. Chapter 1

Nick waited in line at the front desk of the Zootopia Police Academy, he waited like all the rest of the hopeful recruits, each one hoping that their name would be called for the upcoming raffle for attendance.  While getting into the academy would be a new step in his life, a way for him to become more known as a mammal and to do good deeds, it was something that he already did.  Willingly helping Judy- even though she attempted to blackmail him with improper documents, his hustling money went to charity, and he even gave of himself to protect the city that hated him so.  But even through all of that, Nick did have to admit that of all the mammals he could think of, none but those that were in the band with him as well as his mother knew about his more ‘philanthropic’ ventures with his money.  Every month, sending a check to his mother to keep her living comfortably.  Everything had always been comfortable, and he intended to keep it that way, if not for his sake, it was for his mother.

While the middle-aged badger behind the desk rattled off names Nick thought back to how he had gotten here.  From living at his nice apartment and working the hustle with one of his closest friends Finnick to  _ nearly _ getting hustled by a rookie ZPD officer that didn’t fully, or immediately, comprehend the idea of blackmail.  But out of the goodness buried in his shielded heart, he had gone out of his way to make sure that she succeeded.  Being there to help her at every turn as well as being there to give her an emotional hand when she fell into her slump following that ludicrous press conference.

And now here he was, standing in the lobby of the ZPA, wondering if this was really what he wanted.  There were other things that he could do instead of becoming an officer that would benefit society almost tenfold more than he could ever as a rookie.  This train of thought harkened back to his time as the lead singer of Predman Hell, a secretive band that hadn’t shown their faces once and had brought the Preds out of their own slumps when speciesism and oppression started to become too much.  ‘ _ If anything, the mammals of Zootopia need us now more than ever’ _ he thought to himself, humming the tune of their namesake song Two Heads.

A couple hours had passed by the time they arrived to the end of the applicant list, the badger continuing dutifully through the whole list with only an occasional break.  “Van Wilder, Williamson, Werner, Waggerson, and Wigglesworth” Once she came to the very end of the list, she placed it back into the drawer she had brought it out of and began to address those who weren’t chosen for the academy. “If you feel that there is some kind of mistake causing you to have been declined, please take a ticket here on the right, if not, we wish you the best of luck elsewhere.  We hope to see you next year” she added jubilantly, the crowd already beginning to disperse.  There were twenty-five mammals that hadn’t been accepted to the academy, and as Nick scanned the crowd a pattern became quickly apparent.  _  ‘Most of us are foxes!’  _  he thought to himself, of the twenty-five more than three quarters were foxes; arctic foxes, fennecs’, and unsurprisingly; red foxes just like himself.   

Nick meandered for a couple moments in the lobby before making his way out of the building, but that was enough time for him to hear several conversations going on in the background.  Some of them were foxes, but most were other mammals both predator and prey, the common theme tying their conversations was the sheer amount of predators that had been both unaccepted and the fact that they were undeniably almost all foxes.  ‘ _ So much for anyone can be anything… thanks Zootopia!’ _ he thought to himself as he stepped out the door into the midday sunlight.  Nick continued to think to himself about what he could possibly do with his time.  The hustle had since given up the ghost recently, and had become more of a second choice to what he’d rather do.  Which at this point, Nick didn’t even know himself, but his mind was quick at work trying to piece together something.

Muttering to himself as he walked the parking lot in search of Finnick’s incredibly obvious van, “Bellwether’s plot was to subjugate the predators… they need something, scratch that, Zootopia needs something to rally behind to get us out of this slump… HOLY SHIT!” while he started out in a small mutter, merely thinking out loud, his final thought brought all the weight of a train as it tore through his mind. ‘ _ Let’s get the band back together!’ _ he mentally beamed, drawing his phone from his left pocket.  As he put his plan together, texting all of the band members to have an impromptu meeting a single lyric blew through his mind on repeat ‘ **_Now dance!, fucker!, dance! Man, he never had a chance and no one even knew It was really only you!_ ** _ ’ _

Nick: Yo Barr, can you get to the Watering Hole down on first and third for lunch?

Barry: Jake too?

Nick: Hell yeah, need to talk about the band… thinking about starting us back up

Barry: music to my ears brother, see you there!

Eventually Nick found it, before going up to the door he took a cautious breath to steady himself for what he could only imagine would be an insane tirade about the speciesism against foxes by the ZPD.  Swinging the door open, “Hey Finn…”

“Lemme guess, you took yo sorry tail in there, after brining me to wait, only to have them push you aside for no applicable reasoning besides your foxishness?”

“How the actual fuck could you know that?”

“Not my first rodeo there Nicky, remember… we’ve been through this nearly every day of our lives” before taking a pause “Here’s my paw, and there’s my promise…” he started before trailing off.

“I’m about ready to go get us some drinks, already texted Barry and Jake.  They’ll meet us at the Watering Hole… y’know, on first and third”

“Oh, yeah, I know the place… what, ya tryin to get the crew back together?”

“You read my mind bro, though I think some practice is in order before we actually get down to some real venues though.  Would be a shame if we showed up and flunked out”

“Damn right, I’ve not stopped playin the kit even though we stopped… you still going on the guitar?”

“Not worried about individual skill, more about our playing as a team… getting back on the same page if you know what I mean”

“Don’t need ya to preach it brother”

When Finnick’s van rolled into the lot behind the Watering Hole, they both got a view of their old band transport; a clunky old white van with generic everything and some sick tinted windows.  “Guess they beat us here” Nick jested

“Don’t remind me Nick, Barry hated it when I was late”

The pair strolled up to the front door of the bar and upon opening the door were met with a pair of strikingly similar faces.  It was their bass player Barry and to his left was Jake, the band’s guitarist.  The toothy smiles that followed them on their way to the tall bar stools were just as bright as they were years ago.  Barry was sipping from a hefty pint glass that sat firmly in his pale paws. Jake on the other paw, was drinking one of his favorite mid-morning drinks, a Bloody Mary.

“How has my favorite Bengal been doin’ there buddy? And you too Jake, moon been treating you right?”

The black wolf was the first to reply,” Now, hold up there Wilde, we both know you howled with me that one time… and besides, it’s not like I can help it” he added

“In my defense, I was drop dead drunk when I did that with you… and it's all pretty fuzzy, you sure we both did?”

The white tiger was the next to interject,” Pretty sure you were howling with em’ Nicky, but then again all of you small mammals are hard to see sometimes” he jested with a hearty laugh.

As Nick and Finnick settled into the rhythm of their get together, Nick found himself drinking a basston lager, Finn with a whiskey on the rocks.  The four hadn’t seen each other together in nearly a year, the band having gone quiet a handful of years prior.  The message at their last concert was “Masks don’t separate you from us, it makes us one of you”.  It was a very strong platform they had used, a small youth band that had started in the small urbanized streets of Happy Town, a group of Preds that had the world stacked against them and had managed to not only be the poster for the generation, but gave hope to thousands that were ready to simply give up.  They were able to give hope to mammals that were nearly ready to slip into the darkness.  That is what mattered to them, not the money, not the fame, but the people and the rhythm of life.

The four friends took the time to catch up; sharing life stories, recent love interests, recent hardships, new ideas, funny jokes and silly banter.  Although they were one of the smaller groups in the large bar, most of the noise in the establishment came from both them and the surround sound speaker system that pounded out familiar tunes.

“So, fellas, it sure has been a while… but what do you think about getting the crew back together?”

“You mean hanging out?” both Jake shared a confused glance at Nick when he finished.

“No man, I mean the band… I’ve got free time through the roof, and I believe it could be what Zootopia needs right now.   **Especially** considering the recent, and poor, mayoral candidates and choices.”

Barry cracked a huge grin,” Already got it planned out, we can meet at my shop, the Jeering Jaws… it's actually only about two miles down the street.  We can even go down there to get your gear all fixed” he stated, smiling as he looked back at the three across from him

With a clink of glasses, the foursome of friends toasted to good health, prolonged youth, and flowing music.  Unknowingly to all of them, Judy was on her day of parking duty for the month and was currently passing by the establishment.  She would have thought nothing of the two foxes, one short and the other tall, but when she saw the eye-catching paint job of Finnick’s van she recognized the shorter fox immediately.  Taking a moment to look in through the window Judy thought to herself ‘ _ I wonder who they're hanging out with… I know Nick said he knew everyone, but they seem especially friendly.’ _

Before she could decide to go in and ask Nick how his application had progressed they had taken their leave and had disappeared out the back of the bar.  Soon Finn’s large van followed a similar white one out of the lot and sped down towards the center of town.  Judy smiled, knowing that even though Nick appeared to be very aloof, hiding behind walls of sarcasm and smarm, that he still had good and caring friends all around him.  ‘ _ Maybe I’ll ask about them the next time I see him’ _ she thought as she went on autopilot, printing ticket after ticket as she traveled down the street

When the four musicians arrived at Barry’s shop, The Jeering Jaws, they were immediately met with a handful of familiar pictures through the window.  There were four of them, and in each were different shots of the band members.  Barry himself wasn’t in costume and was posing with the rest of the band; something they did only twice ever.

“Yo Barry, you still got our equipment?”

“If you’re talking about the instruments… yea, I got those in the back.  I even still got contacts for the rental of those bears with the Titan amps.”

“Nice shit bro!” came the small fennec’s deceptively deep voice

Nick followed suit as they pulled chairs up to a small table.  “Let’s talk”

The crew talked for nearly four hours before they parted ways.  Talking logistics, where they would set up, what money they would use, and especially where they would start first.  Nick wanted to do something big that wouldn’t be a conventional concert and Finn wanted to do something small at a local bar.  Even with Finnick’s desire to have a small concert, Nick won out, they finally settled on a medium-to-large venue as well as not having a formal concert.

They settled for a rooftop in the middle of Happytown, a place that had been used as a deep pit to throw the Preds into during the Pred-scares.  As a place that could be easily identified with the hardships that predators suffered through the decades, it was easy for Nick and the rest to pick it as a place for their comeback.  Not to mention it was the cradle of not only their respective youths, but also the place where it all began.  The friendships, the band, promises and now a new beginning.

“Then it’s settled, this week... meet at the corner of Pack and Cairn at six thirty every day, and then on Friday we’ll make our grand comeback.” before Jake turned back to Nick “I’ll take care of permitting through the required channels, same with the entrance and exit strategies… I hope you like going out in a blaze because  **_those_ ** were my favorite.”

“Damn right they were” Nick agreed before putting his paw into the center of the table and leaning in and the others were quick to follow suit.

“We’re gonna do this… we’re gonna do it right, and we’re going to make the best music any of these mammals have ever heard… on three”

“To youth! To freedom! To Family “Nick started in a soft voice, picking up in both volume and speed as the countdown quickly met its end “Forever!” the four shouted, careful still not to draw too much attention to themselves through the still largely lit storefront.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Predman Hell follows through with a cryptic message to make a stunning comeback from the aether. Thousands rally to the concert to hear their favorite band, Nick and his crew play their hearts out and the ZPD makes a rather comfortable and pre-planned entrance.
> 
>  
> 
> Still own nothin' but my ideas, I hope disney doesn't want those too!

Nick slowly woke to the sound of his alarm. ‘ _ringing at such an ungodly hour’_ he thought to himself, when in reality it was nearly four in the afternoon.  When Nick’s eyes finally focused on the blinking numbers scrolling around on the clock to his left on the bedside table he nearly flew out of the room. “Shit, shit, shit, shit.  I fucking overslept so bad!” Nick yelled to himself. 

Flying past his phone and to his bathroom, Nick tore into the shower at breakneck speed and leapt into the lukewarm water.  As he lathered up and began to soak in the now warming water, he reflected on the events of the day prior.  ‘ _I wonder if they’ve got the gig going yet… we’re supposed to start work on the stage and get some of the amps in place today, shit man, I don’t have much time.’_  Nick’s mind raced faster than a mile a minute when he felt everything stop, he hadn’t spoken to Judy at all yesterday nor had he even tried to contact her about what happened at the academy. However, Nick’s train of thought was dashed as his phone blew up; texts from Finnick, Barry, and Jake. ‘ _they must need something, crap!’_ as he dashed out of the bathroom clad in a towel, trying desperately to send a myriad of texts while sourcing clothes that he could wear. 

The attire that Nick finally decided on was an open grey button down shirt and a sleeveless Predman Hell t-shirt all tied together with a matching pair of ink black khakis.  Nick’s apartment door slammed shut and was locked in record time, getting to his small car he sped down the empty back roads, racing to Benny’s general store; the building they decided to have their concert at. 

\-- **The Laundromat** \-- 

“Where is that crazy fox?”

            “Who knows man, you know how he is, motherfucker can disappear in an empty room” 

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll have to wait very long.  He just sent a couple messages, he’ll be here in twenty or so” came Barry’s relaxed voice 

            “Well, you’d think he’d remember to get some damn sleep once and awhile… I get we’ve been building this set for a week, but he could have caught up on his beauty rest at some other time” commented Finnick “Although if I’d have to ask, I’d prefer he’d do it after the concert… wouldn’t have to worry about being late to it!” he quickly added.

Jake walked around the perimeter of the tall building, looking over the edge briefly, he gazed into the shattered glass and boarded windows of the now long abandoned establishment.  “Y’know guys, I remember coming here to get snacks after school… it’s a real pity that ol’ Benny’s gone”

            “Damn straight” Finnick cheered back, before turning to a box with more than a dozen multicolored wires stuck out.

“Don’t touch that Fin! I’ve got it all set up, they lead to the projectors and the camera on this roof… if they get messed up I don’t think many of the mammals coming to see us will actually get to see anything!” he yelled, checking the tangle of wires. 

“No need to go atomic on me brother, I get how important this is” 

When Nick arrived to the designated lot, he saw Barry’s generic white van they used for transportation alongside Finnick’s crazy van and now his own small Bullswagon Beetle.  Nick took off down the lonely street towards the old shop, passing by old and familiar mammals that he knew in his youth.  

As the store came back into view, a now familiar sight after the past week, he darted towards the back door where the boards were missing on the lower half of the blockade.  Scrambling under the slats, he jumped onto the old ladder in the backroom of the store, skipping the bottom four rungs.  When he breached the rooftop, he could see that the other three were already there getting their outfits ready.  Barry was covering his stripes with white dye and spiking the edges, giving him a visage that accentuated the flame like shapes his fur took.  Finnick had already started well before Barry and had his spray on tattoos already applied, his three eyed mask sitting high on his forehead, drawing his ears back and away from his face.  Jake had just started applying his costume, starting with his glowing white patterns; his skeletal face mask sitting to his left with a single glowing red eye.

Nick’s own outfit was already laid out on a small mat when he got to it.  Stripping off his coat he began to apply his glowing red fur dye, His own mask sitting solemnly next to Barry’s, the faux half fox skull grinning back at him with deceptively pale features.  Reaching back down to his gear, Nick pulled a small contact tray out and began to put in a full eye sclera lense; it filled his eye completely, giving him a very not-of-this-world look.  Next came the trademark grin that he always had painted on the other side of his face; the mask covered one and the painted grin covered the other. 

By the time they were all ready darkness was beginning to fall over the crowded city-scape.  “Sure we’ll get a crowd?” Asked Finnick

“Hell yes Fin, we sent out almost four hundred video notices in the past three days…” lazily trailed Nick

            “And besides, you know the moment we start singing the crowd’ll fucking explode… not to mention the three or four news channels that have been broadcasting the news of our comeback nonstop for the past five days…” stated Barry in a strong tone

“And if that ain’t enough to get em, then we’ll just have to play louder!” finished Jake 

The four took in the final vestiges of the silence wrapped tight around them before they began their final checks.

\-- **Precinct One** \--

All available officers had been brought back to the bullpen at roughly five sharp, and the chief had been nowhere to be found.  Judy was starting to lose her mind, cooped up in the room with all of the other officers for the past hour had been the single most boring moment of her time on the force aside from her week of parking duty prior to the Bellwether scandal.  Absentmindedly Judy listened to the conversations that sounded off around her, off and on they were interesting, but one caught her attention and even brought her closer to it.

Rhinowitz had turned to face one of the tigers in the front row, “He Fang, you hear about Predman’s comeback tonight?” 

She was quick to answer his question. “Yeah, I heard they were having an open concert in Happytown tonight… I’d just brush it off as fake, but when I saw that video of the band making the announcement themselves… Whooh! I just knew it! Too bad we can’t go though”

“You ain’t kidding girl, normally I wouldn’t miss their first concert for anything, but Bogo specifically asked for all of us to be here for an important briefing… besides, who knows what he’ll assign us.” stated the large rhino, obviously chomping at the bit to hear what the chief would assign to the assembled officers. 

Just as Judy was about to turn around and ask Fangmeyer about the video she had seen Chief Bogo thundered through the open doors of the bullpen and directly to his podium without even a hint of wasted breath he began to ferociously spout off information.

“Officers, tonight is apparently the night that the hit band ‘Predman Hell’ will be making their renowned comeback.  In a letter directly from the lead singer of the band, we have been asked- rather politely I might add, to help them with security.  It is not every day that the ZPD helps manage rowdy crowds at a concert and there will be some things that need to be discussed first.” Bogo took a single moment to both breath and re-arrange the papers stacked in front of him “You will all be required to have at least one other officer with you at all times before you even think about apprehending someone, you will also be required to abstain from any and all drinks that are offered at the concert… and yes, this includes the water and _especially_ the alcoholic beverages” Bogo turned to face the board behind him and pulled down a drop-map of Happytown. “The concert is supposed to happen here, at the abandoned store on the corner of Pack and Fang.  Be cautious, Be courteous, and by god…make sure that you are safe as well.  Now get a move on, you don’t want to be late to something this big!” 

When Judy and her partner Wolford pulled into a fairly crowded lot just less than a half mile away from the epicenter of the concert.  To both mammals’ surprise, there were fifteen parking spots that had been reserved for the ZPD cruisers, ‘ _Bogo had said that Predman had personally asked us to be security… but this is more than premeditated, whomever it was must have known that we only have fifteen working cruisers right now… how the fuck would they know that?’_ Judy wondered to herself as the car rolled into the parking spot without a hitch. 

With that Judy departed from her vehicle and began to group up with the other officers before heading out towards the center of the massive group of mammals currently present with even more slowly filtering in.  Judy looked towards Snarlof and Fangmeyer, “You guys ready? Seems like it might be a bit much… even for us.” she hazarded

            “Nonsense! We are the mammals in blue, the ZPD, and damn are we proud of that fact.  Nothing is too big and nothing is too small for us.” bellowed Jane Fangmeyer before taking several confident strides. Turning back to the others.  “You coming or what? If I remember correctly, the Chief wanted us here at the concert to provide security and a ZPD presence.” before turning back and walking further “I don’t think we’ll be that effective when we’re not even at the damn concert yet!” she yelled even louder over her shoulder.

\-- **On Stage** \-- 

Four large drapes hung off the building high enough to completely cover any lines of sight someone could have to see the members of the band; Jake had made sure of that.  With a single flick of his wrist, Jake set the cameras rolling and eight synchronized pops later the large drapes began to burn like paper.  As Nick’s line of sight began to clear, he could finally see the amassed crowd just away from the edge of the building.   Nick could also see the matching drapes that slid down the sides of four adjoining buildings, as he peered out he could make out the outline of himself on the closest one and the other band members flowing across the other jerry-rigged screens. 

Clearing his throat, Nick reached for the mic on the stand just before him.  “HELLO ZOOTOPIA!”  His words were met with only screams from the crowd, unfazed by the scene unfolding he continued,” ARE YOU READY!”  Nick paused again to listen to the crowd, waiting for the moment they quieted enough for him to continue.

“THREE YEARS AGO WE MADE A PROMISE, A PROMISE THAT IF ZOOTOPIA NEEDED US AGAIN… IF YOU NEEDED US AGAIN… THAT WE WOULD BE BACK, BACK TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN…” Nick paused for effect and to draw the crowd to giving the next part with him.  In unison, the four band members yelled into their perspective mics and the crowd frenzied to fulfill their end.  “BECAUSE WE ARE YOU ZOOTOPIA!” the single sentence was loud enough to be heard in the next biome over, Nick turned to see his friends get ready to start, nodding, he turned back to the assembled crowd.  “FOR WHAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR… THIS IS TWO HEADS!” Boomed Nick. 

“ **There must be somethin’ in the water!** ”

The crowd was quick to fill in with the band.  “ **It must be something about your daughter,** ”

“ **She said our love ain’t nothing but a monster our love ain’t nothing but a monster with Two Heads!** ” They began, picking up speed, the even melodic tune crushing all other noises.  It was at that moment that Nick remembered the rush that he got from singing, standing here in front of everyone, he felt not as though he was part of a pack. Rather that he was a member of the whole, that in this moment everyone ceased to be an individual and had found their part in the whole.  Predators and prey sung one and the same as they chorused along with him.

“ **I turn to you!** ”

“ **Our love ain’t nothing but a monster with two heads and one heartbeat** ”

“ **I turn to you, and you’re all I see!** ” Nick yelled again, turning the mic to face the crowd

“ **Our love ain’t nothing but a monster with two heads and one heartbeat!** ” they chorused back.

Nick looked back to Jake as he strummed the hell out of his guitar, the faux macabre smile that beseeched his face did little to hid the pearly whites that split his real maw in two with a proud and caring smile, one that told volumes of the meaning of both the song and the fans themselves.  Finnick was hammering away on his kit, one paw on a keyboard and the other three on different parts of his drums his own toothy smile gave away his giddiness at finally being back.  Barry had matched Nick in stance as they swayed across the stage, both making eye contact as they drifted between spaces.  Nick crossed with Barry, both turning to each other and slamming out the next line. **“We just got caught up in the moment.. Why don’t you call me in the morning instead”** at the final word they drifted apart, Barry and Nick having exchanged places on the stage. 

The song itself even having only lasted merely three minutes, had felt as though it were an eternity, the final beat driving home the soul of the song.  Nick quickly took a peak around the crowd, seeing the vast sea of muzzles that greeted him, a toothy smile split his painted maw.  One that could draw the warmth out of any vein, it wasn’t his iconic hustler smile.  It was one of pure greed, greed of and for the thrill of the crowd.  It gave him life, it made the band come to life, it gave them purpose in an otherwise dull world.

“ARE YOU READY FOR MORE!?” Nick bellowed into the mic

The entire crowd once again burst into a frenzy at the idea that there would be more to come.  “THIS NEXT ONE MEANS MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW TO US… TO THOSE WE LOVE… AND TO THOSE WE’VE LOST” Quickly taking a breath “THIS IS **BLEEDING OUT!** ”

Nick had switched places three times in the past song, and was now only one spot away from where he had started.  Taking a deep breath, he brought his paw down against the strings of his guitar hard, leaning into the mic he started to sing.  Finnick’s drum echoing the background.

“ **I'm bleeding out, said if the last thing that I DOOO, is to bring you down.. I’ll bleed out for you!** ”

Nick turned, looking down into the crowd nearest to building, his frightening visage nearly mesmerizing for those looking up at the band.  “ **So I bear my skin and I count my sins and I close my eyes and I take it in and I'm bleeding out I'm bleeding out for you (for you)** ”

The crowd began to join in with heavy fervor as a loud and echoing clap began to resonate through the assembled mammals. “ **When the day has come but I've lost my way around and the seasons stop and hide beneath the ground when the sky turns gray and everything is screaming I will reach inside just to find my heart is beating** ” Nick’s paws were lighting on his instrument, pinging from one chord to another nearly too fast to see, the grin never left his face, the painted one merely making it look more to the band’s logo of a smiling fox skull with four eyes; one brown, one white, one red, and one black. Each one represented a member of the band while the skull itself represented the hardships they had all faced.  It was a logo like any other, but it held the support of millions. 

Nick breathed deep, ready to belt out more lyrics when his eyes fell upon a small group of blue in the giant crowd.  It was the ZPD officers, and by the looks of it, Judy was sitting on a rather tall tigress’s shoulders. With renewed vigor, he hit the queue on the nail, “ **Oh, you tell me to hold on Oh, you tell me to hold on but innocence is gone and what was right is wrong!** ”  Barry and Nick continued to go at it, their twinned voices catching an eerie mix as they spoke in unison.

Jake put his heart and soul into his instrument, the chords belaying into a beautiful melody as the band continued.  Putting his whole body into it, he jived and swung to the music like a mammal possessed.  Like Nick, Finnick, and Barry he lived off the exhilaration of playing his music for the world, but more than that, he had always wanted to be part of something greater.  He never had a pack when he was younger, and never fit in, until Nick brought him into his rag-tag group of friends that promised one stormy night to take on the world together.  Now here he stood, baring his soul to the world in all but physical appearance, and he wanted nothing more than to be with those friends that held each other dearest. 

In the meantime, Barry was belting notes, his deep voice carrying his message through the airwaves of Zootopia.  Looking down, he could easily see the frantic movements of a camera crew trying it’s best to get closer to the stage.  Taking a breath and Nodding to Nick, he began to catch his breath.  Barry had always been the loner at school, never made good friends, and never really kept to the same routine.  Until a young fox saved him from a rather traumatic bully, he could close his eyes and still see the bright look on the youthful fox’s face as he spared no second glance, reaching down into the tiger’s dark life to draw him into one better than he could ever imagine.  Nick had given him purpose, friends, and a group he could lean on.  It was more than he could ever ask for, more than he ever thought to ask for.

Nick’s head snaked closer to the mic as his turn for lyrics came back around.  “ **When the hour is nigh and hopelessness is sinking in and the wolves all cry to fill the night with hollering** ” he sung, the crowd falling into place as he leaned back into the next set.  Backed with the sound of the crowd singing the lyrics with him, he felt emboldened.  “ **When your eyes are red and emptiness is all you know with the darkness fed I will be your scarecrow!** ” 

These lyrics meant more to him than anyone would ever know.  They reminded him of his brief time in the organized crime, what he did and why he did it.  Those foul prey-supremacists that threatened his mother and their well being, his complete inability to protect her when she needed it.  So he turned to the only mammals that he knew could protect her, it reminded him of those nights at the hospital waiting for her to recover, howling in sadness into the night sky hoping that it would all be better.

It did, his mother was never assaulted again in her own home.  Nick never did see those dirty mammals ever again, but the cost was so damned high. Every day for the rest of his life that pain followed him, those dark shadows that never went away no matter how many lights he turned on.  When he realized that he had to do better, for both himself and his mother, that was the day that he left and never returned to that dark spot of his life.  Preferring instead to toe the light and look over with his band, standing at the precipice of the deep pit he found himself in and reach down to draw others out.  They would never know who he was, or why he did it, but they would all recognize the halo of music and the soaked paws of someone that had been in the dark before.  Nick had pulled thousands of mammals out of nearly similar situations with wings he never knew he had, music was his calling and he would never give in, and never surrender.

Nick continued to sing, his melodic voice drawing the crowd into the hypnotic hype that permeated the very air of the concert.  Finnick, still sitting at his drum kit, looked through his mask.  The three vertical eyes slitting up and down his bandana giving him a splotchy view of the world around him.  The sound of the crowd, and the sheer energy of the music, it was electric; and Finnick was the live wire.  Finnick remembered the day that he sat out in the cold, playing on his beaten drum out on the street for money, the cold and crisp air berating his sensitive nose.  When a young red fox kit wandered over to him with a large Bengal tiger and a pensive looking wolf. ‘Scram!’ he had said at first, thinking them only a minute distraction to the every-day hustle and bustle that he required for life.  But every day that fox and his little group came back, every day they found him and waited for him to speak first.  Day after day he had turned them away, and they had left without fuss.  This time they stood there on the opposite side of the curb as him and watched, the three lounged out waiting for him to speak.  But this time, he was kinder, much more of the mammal he had been before life tried to put him down was coming back.  Nick offered him what he had lost all those years ago, **_purpose_** _and **family**_.  The three mammals offered him a spot at the center of their group and welcomed him with open arms, they didn’t care that he was a fox, nor that he was a fennec, nor that he was so small.  They truly cared and wanted to succeed with the diminutive fox at their side.  From that moment on they had become one, one cohesive unit, one band, and one crew.  Through the thickest and the thinnest the four had stayed together, they supported each other as best as they could, and did what they did best, make god damn good music. 

The third song started as smoothly as the first two, Nick’s booming voice tearing out through the crowd. “ **MONSTER!”**

Nick, Barry, Jake and Finnick started together.  This was the song that represented them the best, their hardships, their greatest successes and their greatest failures. “ **Ever since I could remember, everything inside of me, just wanted to fit in (oh, oh, oh, oh)** ” before the four musicians took deep breaths “ **I was never one for pretenders, everything I tried to be, just wouldn't settle in (oh, oh, oh, oh)** ” **As** the other three peeled away, Nick stepped forward to the ledge and started the next set “I **f I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?** ”  Nick searched the group for the only mammal he had a true connection to the crowd. Judy, hopefully she would get a hint towards the reference.  Even if she didn’t catch the meaning, or the familiar words, it was worth the try… even if he was unsure of the outcome. “ **And if I seem dangerous, would you be scared? I get the feeling just because Everything I touch isn't dark enough That this problem lies in me!** ”

\-- **Judy** \-- 

Sitting on Jane’s shoulders gave her a much better view of the crowd assembled before her.  Even though they had been cordially invited to help with the security of the concert, Judy had opted to be a lookout in case she saw some suspicious activity.  But as she turned to face the musicians on stage once more, she could see the difference, the lead singer.  The wildly crimson fox that seemed little more than a red and fox shaped live wire on stage, was staring directly towards her.  While she couldn’t be sure that the fox was looking at her, she was riveted, the three other musicians that drifted around the stage as they played came closer to the fox as he slammed the chords through his guitar.

Judy listened to the lyrics, the voice of the fox drowning out all other noises for the moment.  The lyrics were very familiar… “ **If I seem dangerous, would you be scared? I get the feeling just because Everything I touch isn’t dark enough! The problem lies in me!** ”  At the remembrance of the press conference, her mind drifted back to Nick… those four similar mammals at the bar, Nick’s apparent business, how those lyrics seemed so close to the words of the fox that she was proud to call her friend. 

So caught up in thought, Judy completely missed the song come to an end, simply mesmerized by the flashes of the stage and the macabre visages of the four mammals on stage.  Judy barely even registered the start of the next song with that same fox yelling out the title to their next song. “ **THIS IS, IN THE END!** ”

She couldn’t bring herself to think of anything other than those words, they played in her head on rerun, what they meant.  How similar that fox looked, how the fennec in the back looked, not to mention the two other mammals on the stage.  It was eerie how similar they were to those she saw at the bar; how eerie it was that those lyrics matched so well to her friends most pained moment in recent time. 

\-- **Later, on stage** \--

The four band members waltzed up to their perspective edges of the building, before they all turned back towards the center, except for one red fox.  “ **ZOOTOPIA, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT… WE SEE THAT YOU ARE IN NEED OF SOMETHING TO CLOSE THIS RIFT IN OUR SOCIETY… WE’VE COME TO REMIND YOU WHO TO BELIEVE IN.. THANK YOU AND HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!”** before the fox too, turned back towards the center of the building.  But as he reached the center, in a flurry of movement, the four split off in different directions and leapt out into the crowd.  But just before the crowd could catch them, they blew apart into thousands of pictures of the band.  They floated across the wind in the small road, on each one it was a member of the band shrouded in darkness looking out over a ledge at something in the distance.

  
Reaching out, Judy caught one for herself, as she peered at it.  She noticed that in the right corner of the picture was a full view of the packed concert, taking a moment to catch her bearings, she looked around until she found the fox from the stage leaning on the balcony of a nearby building before disappearing into the darkness.  As the crowd disbanded, Judy could think of nothing other than those lyrics and that feeling of recognition as she stared back at the masked figure on the stage.  ‘ _Did nobody really know who these mammals were?’_ it was an incredulous thought at best, but one she couldn’t help but wonder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter in the series, I found that I got carried away multiple times while writing this, if you find errors or anything of that sort feel free to comment below. Your support is important for an up-incoming writer to get a hold of the ropes. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> \-- Leroi --


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little lunchtime between friends, secrets are unknowingly shared... some more mountainous than others, hints about hard pasts and possibilities for new futures.

“Beep, Beep, Beep,” Nick’s alarm sounded off a full three times before he was able to get a good enough grasp on the power cord and tear it free from the socket. As he rolled over on his comfortable bed, he began to think. ‘ _My fucking everything is so damn sore…’_ Nick flopped himself free from his bed and dragged his uncooperative body towards the bathroom and the pristine shower within.  Just before he entered into it, his phone beeped once and then shortly vibrated softly, notifying him of his monthly deposit to his mother.  ‘ _I wonder how she’s doing today?’_ he thought in a rather zombie like manner while stepping into the warm water.  In his sleep-ridden state, he missed his phone continuing to vibrate from receiving another message.

About five minutes into his shower, with soap still in his fur, his phone began to ring.  It blared loudly and without stop for nearly another minute before Nick rinsed and toweled his paws and head enough to pick it up.  “H-*yawn*-lo?” he asked, not having checked the caller ID before picking it up. 

            “It’s Judy sleepyhead!... I figured we could have lunch today, I’ve already called Finnick, he thought it was a good idea.” pausing momentarily “though he did think it would be difficult to get you out here so early in the morning” 

“Damn right it is Carrots, ten o’clock is simply an ungodly hour for a fox of my _refined_ tastes.” 

            “So you say Slick?” 

“Why yes, yes I do” 

            “That’s just peachy; Clawhouser, Finnick and myself will be waiting for you at The Den at the Rainforest District Peers. Our lunch reservation is for eleven-thirty, Don’t be late! You hear me in there!” Nick had to take the phone away from his sensitive ears as her loud voice roared through the small phone.  Clicking the end call button, Nick slung the phone onto a small stack of towels sitting in the corner of the room before going back to scrubbing the soap out of his fur.  Toweling off was just as normal as it always was, followed by a very personal visit from the blow-dryer.  The last one always left Nick with a rather poofy feeling, so he made a habit of taking a brush to the longer parts of his fur.  Nick managed to vacate his apartment with roughly twenty minutes to spare before the lunch appointment would come to fruition.  His apartment was nearly a mile away, so the timing was the least of his worries. 

\-- **The Den** \-- 

“So Fin, if you don’t mind me calling you that, how long have you known Nick?” prattled the heavyset cheetah 

            “I’ve known him since I was a little kit, he’s a good mammal, Nick… he’s done a lot by me and the rest of our little crew.” Finnick’s deceptively deep baritone voice reverberated across the table as he thought about what to say next 

“Ooh, sounds like there’s been some tough times and juicy stories from your past.” came the prying thought from the cheetah 

            “Most of the stories that I’d have to share about how Nick basically saved me wouldn’t be something I’d be comfortable with, and I’d rather not ruin our lunch together.” deflected the diminutive fennec 

Now it was Judy’s turn to speak into the conversation, “Nick’s told me some stories of his childhood, not much, but some… enough to glean a little peek into what his life was like as a kit” 

Finnick looked at the pensive stare that Judy had laid out on her face and began to laugh almost maniacally, Judy stared back at him in genuine concern as she watched the fit of sheer madness pass before he spoke up again.  “Whatever he told you is merely a part of a puzzle there bunny, I’ve been through more hell than anyone has the right to see… but Nick… the only reason that Nick is still okay, the only reason that he moves forward is because the fire inside him has always been brighter than the fire outside.” 

Judy breathlessly looked to Finnick before averting her gaze to the chubby feline at her right, but out of her peripheral vision she could see a red fox slowly approaching their table.  “Nicky!” she squealed, both at the sight of her friend and a way out of the overly oppressive conversation she and Clawhouser had managed to trod into.  ‘ _Perhaps another time’_ she thought to herself, at another time she would ask Nick more about his past, hopefully have him open up and get some of those painful memories off of his shoulders. 

Nick approached the table at a very relaxed pace, a pair of smoke grey aviators hung high on his muzzle completely blocking the view of his eyes.  “What’s with the long faces guys? Something on my face?” 

“Slick, we were getting uh- worried, yeah, worried that you wouldn’t show… you’re almost late to our lunch.” blanched Judy 

“I’ll have you know, that I both like my sleep _and_ there was minimal traffic on my way here.  Though you did manage to catch me just after my shower… never did think that you’d call so close to the lunch happening, I miss something?”  as Nick reached over to the waitress and motioned for a water. 

Finnick merely chuckled and shook his head as the duo on the other side of the table became increasingly comfortable with the new direction of the lunch-based conversation.  However, Clawhouser was quick to bring up a very recent event.  “Did you guys hear the Predman Hell concert last night?  The whole of precinct one was cordially invited to act as security for the gig… I never thought that would happen?” 

When Clawhouser’s question was pointed back towards Nick and Finnick, they both appeared a little hot-under-the-collar. Nick was first to recover, “Yeah, I could hear it all the way from my apartment, it was excellent… So many fans showed up to enjoy that music.” 

            “You betcha-” Judy paused taking a light sip of water “They’ve been my favorite since I was young… I remember getting through my time at the academy listening to their music, and I do think that their first album came out when I was still at Burrow High” 

Clawhouser squealed when Judy finished, ‘ _ohmygod’_ he thought _‘the other three mammals here like Predman Hell... ‘_ as his subconscious made donuts in the racetrack of his mind, his mouth went on autopilot.  “Who’s your favorite musician?” as his eyes came back into focus he continued “yeah! and who do you think they are!?!” While his chubby look led to the belief that he no longer lived in the fast lane, it definitely seemed that his mind _and_ voice still did, Nick barely understood the latter part of the question and Finnick looked around at the others with a wide stare- glass of ice tea still in paw. 

“My favorite has to be…” Nick thought aloud “probably got to be the red fox, the lead singer, I always imagine that I myself could be so fortunate to be a part of something so great” before he looked to Finn for help. 

            “Uh, yeah, my favorite is their drummer… I used to play drums when I was much younger, well before I met my boy Nicky here.  Used to play in the school band and then later at small gigs with a little band we put together… those were the days” Fin had started out in a rather serious and somewhat unbelievable tone, before it morphed into a very complex pot of roiling emotions about what, Judy could only imagine, was that small band he mentioned or at least his time in the school one where he played. 

“How about you Fluff, which one of u-” Nick nearly said us, but managed to catch himself before he could finish “them, which is your favorite member of the band?” 

Judy tapped her muzzle in thought for a moment before beginning her reply, “I’d have to go with Nick’s choice, I really like that lead singer… you can really feel his internal struggle through the lyrics of their music, I can really connect to what they sing about… I know what you’re thinking, ‘I’m not a Pred, I don’t and can’t understand why the Predman Hell band plays’ this and that.  But I assure you, I definitely have had my own fair share of hardships.” her tirade losing steam and finally coming to an end as she sank back into her chair. 

“Well you’ve proven your point there Judy, you’ve made quite the scene...” as Finn hinted towards the other patrons currently turned to look at them “but I feel your fluffy friend here might have more to say than all of us combined” Finn finished in a very pointed tone, hinting towards the cheetah at the other end of the table that was barely containing himself. 

Nick turned his best hustler grin towards Judy before he started counting down silently on his paws. “Emotional detonation in three… two… on-” but was cut off completely by the very world shaking before them as Clawhouser broke the sound barrier with his high pitched squeal. 

            “O-M-GOODNESS! you guys like the Preds’ too!?!?!??!?!? MY GOD THEY ARE LIKE MY TOP THREE FAVORITE THINGS!” he bellowed before coming short on much needed breath. “I’ve got like, all their music, An- and my favorite musician… I got to say that it’s a tie between the two other singers, their lead is great and all and I don’t mean to demean their drummer, but the other two are what drive my love as a fan.  I SOOO wish I could meet them in person” he beamed “but they haven’t done a single backstage pass event in the entirety of their career” he added, more than a little crestfallen. 

“Well hold up there buddy, I’m sure that it can’t be true forever… you never know” Nick consoled, seeing the downtrodden appearance of the usually upbeat cheetah” 

Finnick was next to speak up, “Yeah… Ben, what’s your favorite song they’ve done?” 

            “Uh, it’s” *sigh* “it’s gotta be Bombshell Blonde, it always had a great beat to it, not to mention I always found myself listening to it. 

As the four mammals continued to finish their food in a quiet manner, Judy found herself drawn to her phone buzzing in her pocket. “Hmm?” she wondered aloud, thinking nothing of it “MOLDY CARROTS!!” she suddenly yelled “Clawhouser, we’ve got to go… my GOD! lunch ends in three minutes WE’VE GOT TO GET BACK!” as she hastily threw the now paid for bill down on the table and dragged the hefty cheetah towards their parked squad car. 

“So, I see that look Finn, what’s your game?” 

            “We’re gonna play that song, Bombshell Blonde, we’re gonna play it and we’re gonna find a way to make sure he’s there to hear it.” 

“Already ahead of you there brother” Nick remarked 

            “What? How th’fuck you manage that? We’ve been sitting together this whole time and I’m very sure you haven’t made any special plans yet…” trailed the small fennec 

“I tossed a pair of tickets in their car on my way over, the special ones y’know, with the space for the dedications and the _sticker_.” 

“You gave them a pair of front row seats, left them in their car, _and_  on top of that you left one of the special Predman Hell stickers with them?” 

“Damn right I did, we never did give enough of them out.” 

“They are so gonna find out that its us, Nicky, you better know what you’re up to” threatened the fennec, before slumping his face into his paws 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, they parked in the special lot behind Tony’s… I bet they don’t suspect a thing” Nick said, a wide hustler-smirk cracking through his muzzle 

\-- **The Car** \-- 

“Judy, I wish you would have said something earlier, I mean, before we had to literally speed to get back to work before we’d be late.” 

“I know, I’m sorry Ben, I didn’t mean to wait so long… it just slipped past me I guess” 

As the duo stepped out of the car, Ben noticed something hanging off of Judy’s left ear. It looked very much like a pair of tickets and a small fox shape with a white back.  “Hey, uh, Judy… you’ve got a, err,” as he motioned like he was reaching around for an ear “yeah, like, right over there” as she slowly closed her grasp over the laden ear.   

“The heck are these?” she questioned, looking at the papers currently stuck to her ear.  Slowly reaching over and plucking them off and turning them about, she was met face-to-mask with a very familiar cartoon sticker of the lead singer of Predman Hell. “Oh Carrot-Sticks, Ben, I think I know what we’re doing on Friday” 

            “What? What’re you planning? Something I missed?” he asked in triplicate wondering if something was wrong. 

“Oh, no, everything is juuussst fine buddy.  We got ourselves a pair of front row tickets to the next Predman Hell concert” 

            “That must be a mistake, we didn’t buy any… nor did we meet with anyone that even knew they were having a concert so soon” he questioned lightly 

“No Ben, these are even labeled for us… this one says ‘Judith Hopps’ and the other says ‘Benjamin Clawhouser’” 

            “That’s insane… I wonder who gave em to us, at least we know it must be someone we’ve met before if they know our names.” quickly added the Cheetah as he padded back to his side of his desk.  “See you after work Judy!” he called after her as she left back towards the bullpen for afternoon assignments. 

Taking her seat, Judy’s mind began to wander, ‘ _who do we know that could have been responsible for this…’_ her mind raced through nearly a hundred different mammals before her mind came to rest on an interesting idea. ‘ _Nick and his buddy Finnick seemed to be hiding something, not to mention they seemed as though they knew something more about the band… the song!’_ she hastily thought ‘ _if they play the song Clawhouser asked for… then It must be them’_.  Chuckling to herself, she shook her head in thought, “No fucking way… Nick…” 

\-- **At the Jeering Jaws** \-- 

Nick sat across from his other three band members, ferrying ideas for their next upcoming gig.  “So Finn and I thought it through, we want to play Bombshell Blonde at the next concert… you mind?” 

A light chorus of 'nah’s' came from the three opposite of him. “Hey Nick, Barry” Piped Jake “I want to add something to the costumes if you don’t mind” 

“Like what?” 

            “A pair of wings?” 

“Sounds fucking awesome bro” As if to accentuate their quickly-awakening inner daredevil, Nick quickly fist bumped Barry before turning back to Jake “So how are we going to go through with this” 

            “I’ve got a couple drawings, and more than enough ingenuity… not to mention some rather talented friends back in the movie business, we’ll have em for the concert… I hope you like explosions and can still swim decently…” he forewarned 

Nick looked slightly shocked, but leaned back into his chair and Barry followed suit, but Finnick was much less comfortable with it. “You’re gonna set us on fire again aren’t you”

            “Oooh, yeah, you better bet I’m gonna set us on fire!”

Finn shook his head “Dear lord, you scare me sometimes”  as the four shared a couple laughs before splitting up for the night, planning once again, to meet again the next day for another weeks worth of pre-concert preparations.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and the guys have their concert, Judy becomes ever so suspicious, and Clawhouser finds a new key to sing in.

Over the past four days Nick and the rest of the band set about turning the piers at the Rainforest District docks into a proper center for a concert.  Having a non permanent stage built in with it’s back out to the water freely flowing past, Jake had gotten the new measurements and costumes manufactured for the concert.  Nick had gotten some of their more popular songs together and mixed in the one that Officer Clawhouser had requested.  A simple four song docket with no lead in and outro band, usually would be suspect; but with Predman Hell, it was the norm.  As the long story goes, they show up and play their music before disappearing into the aether only to appear again later for another gig.  Since they had gone silent years’ prior, the band hadn’t played at an official venue or concert and because of this, they felt the need to work their way up.  Whether people thought of the P. H’s long game or not didn’t matter, the Zootopian festival of lights was fast approaching and they intended to take the spotlight.

“Hey Nick, pass me that red can over there, will you?” asked Jake, still spreading the last of the contents of his current can over the floor of the stage.

Taking a quick whiff of the now open can, “Whoa, what’s in this shit?”

“It’s fire-mammal grade fire retardant, I’m putting the final touches on myself to make sure that this stage will stay in one piece after our finale… Don’t want our gear to take a swim now do we?” Jested the wolf

“No, no we don’t Jake. Ready for tonight?”

“You know it Wilde, got everything down pat”

As the two shared a high five, Finnick slowly rolled past with some of his drum kit.  “Yall better stop lollygagging, we’ve got plenty to do and the concert’s only in three or so hours… let's get a move on!”

Hearing the small fennec’s plight, Barry introduced himself into the conversation. “Finn, leave em alone I’m sure we’ll finish with plenty of time to spare, and besides the only thing that Nick needs to get done is to paint himself up… Jake’s just got to finish that last small section before he’s done and can paint up.” pulling a large bag of Chinese takeout “besides, we’ve worked most of the day without break, commere and have some food.  You’ll regret it later if you don’t.”

Moments later the sound of large mouths scarfing down rice, noodles, and chicken nearly drowned out the sound of the river beside the makeshift stage.  The four friends enjoyed their last few hours of relaxation before they would begin again with loud music and explosions.  Only a half-hour later, the four band members finished their food and began to kit back up with their concert garb.

Nick’s new outfit was similar in appearance to his last one, a pair of tight fitting black jeans that allowed bloody red tufts of his dyed fur to poke through.  His upper body was covered in a torn up Predman Hell shirt with the attachment harness for his wings and an unbuttoned fire-proofed long sleeve shirt with rolled up sleeves.  His half-face mask sat in front of him, the single glassy red eye staring back at him reflected back the maniac smile he had painted onto the opposite side of his maw.  Reaching back to the clips that had been pressed through a pair of the tears, Nick checked the safety clips and the ‘panic-pins’ allowing him to drop the wings if there was ever a need for it.

As Nick stepped away from his mask and towards one of the pre-setup bathrooms on site, he passed Barry who was also kitting up.  The glow-in-the-dark fur dye giving him a smooth and pale ambiance, his own skull face mask grinning back at him with frenzied intent.  Wearing a pair of red jeans and a pitch black t-shirt and a similarly unbuttoned shirt coated with that fire retardant they were using to protect themselves.  “Nick, if you’re heading over towards the bathroom grab me some towels to get this schmutz off of my paws…” quietly trailing off “shit makes it hard to play the damn instrument.  Moments later, he reached out to grab a hold of a nearby railing and bumped right into the back end of his guitar and slung it right off the shelf it sat on. “FACK!” he screeched, reaching for it in mid-panic.

Before it could hit the ground a familiar pair of black paws caught it.  “You should be watching where you walk, big guy.  I bet it’d be pretty hard to get a new one ready before we start tonight” jested Jake, gently placing the oversized instrument on the proper pedestal- in position and ready for the upcoming concert.  Jake himself was wearing his usual red pants and similarly colored shirt, his own white button down covered his furred arms.  Jake had wrapped the straps of his mask onto his shoulder and had the face covering the edge of his shoulder like a hipster shield.  “Can’t fucking wait bro!”

Jake flopped out of the way just in time for Finnick to screech past on his skateboard, “Get out the way boi! We on a roll!” before attempting an Ollie and falling straight down onto the floor.  “Gah, fuck… that really fricken hurt” sucking in a sharp breath, he grabbed his knee “kshhhh, Ahhh, man…. Guess that means no fake blood for me” as he looked down at the now already blood matted fur on his knee.

Jake quickly reached for the stage med kit and began to look over the small leg wound, “I’ve got good news and bad news”

“What’s that supposed to mean Jake… th’fuck are you getting at!?”

Covering his muzzle for a quick second, he quelled the need to burst out laughing. “It’s naht a tumah!” he mock-yelled in a voice he borrowed from his favorite actor: Arnold Bearninager.

“Man, Go. Fuck. Thyself” Came Finn’s apathetic reply, obviously not amused

“Alright, you win.  You’ll live, and be able to play tonight… it’s probably already done bleeding, though I will definitely advise against dancing on stage tonight, aside from the big finale.  But I’d have to think that between the rest of us that we’d be able to swim you to shore with little issue.”

“That’s good at least… worried for a second that I might have seriously injured myself, I’d hate to change our plans so soon before we get started.”

\-- Judy --

“Gotta go guys! Judy yelled as the clock struck five, shift was over and she intended to not be late to the concert they received the special tickets for.  Ignoring the surprised gawks from the other officers about her being prompt in the change of shifts, it was widely known that Judy was either the first mammal to clock out on someone else’s shift, or the last one to clock out on her own.  Bogo even took time of his busy schedule of frowning out his window to regard the grey blur as it blazed through the offices. “Where could she be off too?” he wondered to nobody in particular. As he turned back to his desk, the forty-ounce cup of piping hot extra strength coffee sat there awaiting his beck and call.  ‘Probably best she take some time off’ he thought before a horrifying realization overtook him “SHE’S USED NONE OF HER SICK DAYS!” face palming, the chief began to look around his office for his calendar and organizer ‘lets see, she can take… three fucking months off!’ his surprise only lasted for moments before he realized that he hadn’t taken a sick day in over fifteen years. “Hmm” was the only sound that came out of his mouth after that, the rest obliterated by the loveliness of his new and improved coffee machine.

The second she swiped her badge over the reader at the front desk, she and Ben took off out the front doors and towards Ben’s car where they had changes of clothes and directions back to the place of the concert waiting.  As Judy turned back towards Ben, “Hey, did you get those directions for the concert?”

“Yeah, I did… but they’ve been blank still.” he started

“What? Why? That’s ridiculous…” trailed Judy

“No, it really isn’t” Came the pudgy Cheetah’s reply “How many of their concerts have you really been to in person?”

“This’ll be the first one aside from last weeks as security”

“That’s why you don’t know,” face palming “I completely forgot to mention that they only ever release the place of the concert the day of, the ticket codes merely set your number for the what I’d only have to assume is automatic dispatch of information”

“That’s great, we should have it soon then, right?”

“Yeah!” he cheered back “We should be getting it within the hour” as Ben popped the trunk open for the duo to place their bagged gear into.  As Clawhouser drove them towards his apartment so they could get everything ready, both Judy and Ben’s phones began to buzz violently.

“Uh, unknown number?... do I answer?”

“Are you kidding me! Yes, answer the phone… I bet it’s that message!” he pitched

Deftly Judy placed the call onto speaker and left it on the dashboard of the car, the voice that came through didn’t seem like a recording, a shock to the duet of officers.  “Hello, I see you’re both getting ready for the concert tonight” rolled the incredibly smooth voice of a familiar singer.

“OoOoOh, it sounds SOO real! Almost like he’s really talking to us on the phone!” Judy had to cover her ears as Clawhouser reached a pitch she once thought impossible.

Judy could hear fumbling on the other end of the phone, another thing she didn’t expect from what Clawhouser would describe as a recording.  “The concert is at the Rainforest District Piers, the concert starts at five thirty sharp… and please” the singer’s voice pleaded “don’t scream into your phone again, it really hurts our ears” and like that, the line went dead leaving both Judy and Benjamin in shock as they took in what had just happened.  Not only had they miraculously gotten a pair of designated tickets to a show that hadn’t even been announced yet, but they had also gotten a pair of P.H stickers that were never released.  And as if to top the cake, that ‘recorded’ message that Ben had gone on about was in fact not recorded and was definitely the lead singer of the band who had called them.

 

“Ben…” Started Judy “Were we just actually talking with the lead singer to the band?”

When Clawhouser managed to formulate his reply it was rife with disbelief, “Uh, Wow, that’s definitely a new one… I uh, never expected to actually have one of them call us. Whew, that was a once and a lifetime experience huh!” he practically beamed, still not seeing the truth before them.  Soon Ben’s apartment complex came into view and the duo scaled the stairs as fast as inhumanly possible to get into the room faster.  Ben was the first into the bathroom, and despite his size, was changed in a stunningly short period of time.  Wandering into the vast room, which was barely larger than her own apartment room back at the Grand Pangolin Arms.  Judy couldn’t help her mind but to drift back to Nick and his friend Finnick not to mention those two others she saw him with at the Watering Hole.  ‘My lord’ Judy thought to herself as she changed in the cheetah’s oversized bathroom ‘I know a motherfucking superstar musician and I never even suspected a thing’

\-- Centerstage --

Primed and ready to go, the four friends drew close once more only to break away to their different places on the stage.  Finnick took a seat in the center of the stage behind a large curtain, Barry stood opposite Nick at either end of the stage.  Jake, the pyrotechnic he was, found himself back behind the curtains with Finnick making sure that when the concert took towards their finale it would bring everything together; the wings, the explosions, the fire, everything needed to be perfect and it was just right to make a second check.

Scanning the crowd in a robotic manner, Barry and Nick mocked each other’s movements, matching every single action in time.  A complex dance that soon brought them both to center stage, as they came to rest once more, Nick spotted the two mammals they needed to see.  Judy and Ben sat on a pair of tall benches in a large open space in the front two rows, a shock to see that the mosh pits had been moved to encircle them rather than to take up the space directly in the center.

“ZOOTOPIA! WE’VE HEARD YOU ONCE… YOU’VE HEARD US ONCE” as Nick drew a strong breath before continuing “WE THINK IT’S HIGH TIME THAT YOU HEAR US AGAIN” The two musicians on stage waited a moment to let the crowd’s roar become heavy and dissipate before they continued “I DON’T THINK WE CAN HEAR YOU! MAYBE A SONG OR TWO WILL BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE!”

Reaching back, Nick dipped his paws into the bucket of liquid beside him before scraping his paws against the matting on the floor.  His entire arm came out covered in flame, taking it in stride, he swung his claws towards the sheet hanging over the back half of the stage.  The sudden movement mixed with the touch of the cloth was enough to put out his arm and to transfer the flame to the stage prop.

It instantly blew into dust that floated freely through the air, giving a war-torn feel to the concert as it came to a rolling start.  “THIS IS IN THE END!” shouted the red fox, the rolling sheet of flame bearing loose both Jake and Finnick as well as another of the Predman Hell logos.  This one bearing a pair of crossed wings with the fox skull on a mixed red and black background covered in flames.

“In the end, as we fade into the night” started Nick, his echo paced in equal by Barry. The crowd rushed to catch up by filling the “whoa!” that followed suit.

“Who will tell the story of your life?” Barry boomed out his lines with a ferocious staccato, bringing forth the punctuality of the last note with a snap of his maw.  Not to be outdone, Nick continued forth with the beat driving his bones “In the end, as my soul's laid to rest what is left of my body?” he asked out to the crowd, his answer came back from Barry, stealing the focus between the two mammals out on stage “Or am I just a shell?”, the statement hung low and strong through the sound choked air as they blasted forward with little concern.  Judy found herself focusing more on the fox than the tiger, the way he moved seemed so smooth and practiced that it simply captivated her, noting to herself that most of the crowd seemed to be drawn towards the fox.

Nick continued on without fail, catching his breath in the downbeats of the heavy bass “I have fought and with flesh and blood, I commanded an army through it all I have given my heart for a moment of glory!” the smooth and calm sound the fox’s voice seemed to drown out the heavy beat of the other instruments, it was almost hypnotic in the way he moved on stage.  Not to be forgotten was the larger, pale furred predator that continually challenged the draw to the fox.  Bringing mammals back and forth in an ever going game of tug-o-war, watching intently Judy realized that this must have been part of the concert from the beginning, they shared the medium keys while the tiger got the lowest and the fox took the higher.  To anyone just waltzing by, it would look more like a crowd had arrived at a sing off.  They played off each other’s energy, moving around stage like lightning bolts of pure energy, charging the mammals nearest to the stage as they passed by.

In that moment, through the maelstrom of loud music, bright lights, and screaming fans. Judy came to realize what the draw was to being in the position of the four on stage, she could almost see the sparks flying off the two singing their hearts out- the wolf in the back intently hammered notes across his own strings, and the small drummer beat the life into the songs with his mighty drums.  They fed off the energy from those around them and the music was a way for them to give it back, she watched as the fox hypnotically swayed with the beats, plucking strings and turning muzzle-skyward to put his all into the music he was playing.  Shaking her head, she could fully imagine the fox under the mask, “Nick… this is definitely one of the things you could have told me.”

“WHAT?!” yelled the cheetah next to her

“NOTHING BEN, I THINK THEY’RE COMING TO THE NEXT SONG… HOPE IT'S THE ONE YOU LOVE!” she hinted back, already having her suspicions towards the outcome.

“CAN WE HEAR YOU NOW?” called the fox on stage, throwing his bottle of water back to the stage floor he yelled back out “WANT ANOTHER SONG?”  even though the musicians already knew the answer, it was almost always the right move to get the crowd fired up. “THIS NEXT ONE HAS A DEDICATION… YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!” Nick yelled, pausing a moment for effect “THIS IS BOMBSHELL BLONDE!”

This time it was the tiger that started up the music, his on stage dance brought him to a completely opposite side than the russet fox that he had matched before “That blonde, she's a bomb, she's an atom bomb. Rigged up, and ready to drop! Bad news, I'm a fuse, and I've met my match. So stand back, it's about to go off!” he sung, the words dripping with the beat that rumbled away from the speakers that sat nearly underneath the edge of the stage.  
On cue, Nick picked up the next lines, “That vixen, she's a master of disguise! I see danger, when I look in her eyes. She's so foxy, she could lead to my demise. So I'm running, 'cause I've run out of time.”  The fox’s sway and movements matched the beat of the song completely, he danced like a live wire, music diffused from him just as fast as the speakers could handle.  The energy that he had played off the music and into the crowd.

Judy could see that the simple shock that her chubby friend had displayed at hearing his favorite song would be played had completely been scorched away by his will to dance and his need to enjoy it.  While he never left the boxed off zone to get into the mosh pits, he did do his best to dance to the music.  Taking one last breath to herself, she too, lost herself to the rhythm, energy, and soul of the music being played.

They must have danced through at least another song after that without realizing because it was suddenly dark.  Judy found her eyes finding it hard to adjust to the flicker of the stage lights, ‘it must be the finale!’ she thought to herself, the thought itself was perfectly paced because the moment it faded a blast of flame lit the air around the stage.  

\-- Nick --

I could hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahhhs’ of the mammals out in the crowd as the flames blew skyward.  And even the shocked gasps as the flames caught to the accelerant on stage, walking forward next to Barry, I had to still my fears.  I had done this before, it was scary for the first step, but after that it was magic. ‘One… two… three.’ I thought before nodding to Barry and taking the final step through the pillars of flame.

Moments after we were obscured I could feel the heavy stage clamps slinging the wings into the attachments on the back of our harnesses.  When the flames died out, we were left crouched down with the wings spread around us, each giving off a different glow.  Mine were a pristine white while Barry’s matched my red fur, it was time.

As a duet, we rose from the ashy floor and to our full heights.  “ZOOTOPIA! YOU’VE BEEN HEARING OUR OLD MUSIC FOR TWO CONCERTS NOW… WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SOMETHING NEW!” I yelled, the depth of my booming voice cutting through the dull roar of the crowd.

Taking a breath, I continued, “THIS IS ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN!”

Starting quietly, I let the slow lead into the song drag me forward, feeling the strong pull of the wings at my back as they shifted with my every movement. “I'm an angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun an angel with a shotgun, shotgun, shotgun” all of a sudden, the whole scene burst into motion once more and the song took me with it. “Get out your guns, battles begun, are you a saint, or a sinner? If loves a fight, than I shall die with my heart on a trigger” together Barry and I managed to cover most of the stage with the flutter of our wings, often switching around the stage the mechanical draw only adding to the smoothness of our movements.  I found myself drifting off once more into the depths of the song, the emotions I felt writing it, and the painful thoughts that came with “They say before you start a war you better know what you're fighting for well baby, you are all that I adore If love is what you need, a soldier I will be” My voice trailing away as the steady and strong beat broke through the chorus and into existence, looking out from the mask adorning my face, I found my mark once more, Judy. “'m an angel with a shotgun fighting til' the wars won I don't care if heaven won't take me back I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe don't you know you're everything I have? and I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight”  
It no longer mattered to me if Judy understood the full meaning I had put behind these lines, while the rest of our music had been drafted by two or more of the group, this one had been wholly crafted by myself.  It was for her, even though I wasn’t one to let emotion show, I couldn’t help the single tear that dripped down my muzzle as I sang my heart out onto my sleeve.  Right here, right now, I felt as vulnerable as I ever could have.  Fortunately, nobody but the one I wrote it to could ever understand it.  The song was everything we shared over the past couple months; the nighthowlers, Bellwether, the hardships before she came back to fix the wrongs, the imperfect bond we shared.  This is what I sing, not my goals or fixed points, but truth and feeling.  Thinking again to myself briefly before I became swept away again by the beat ‘I hope I get the chance to share this with you’  
As the song came to it’s powerful end, we found ourselves hunched over our instruments, it was time to go.  Time to make our grand exit, Jake flipped three switches near him before meeting us at the front middle of the stage.  Together as one we spoke out to the crowd “ZOOTOPIA, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ANOTHER AMAZING CONCERT… SEE YOU SOON AT THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS” before charging off the back of our stage and into the murky waters below, fortunately for us, we didn’t have to swim. A small mesh covered boat with comfortable pads was our landing pad.  Together we sat, staring into the smoke and light as the concert faded away, traveling back to my house to get clothes together before we would split for the night.  The whole ordeal took another full hour, watching Finn head towards his van with the applicable “Ciao!” and then another few minutes later a couple embraces from both Barry and Jake, they left too, heading back towards the Jeering Jaws and another full day’s work at the shop.  
With a final moment to spare, I flopped onto my own bed, completely forgetting to wash out either the red paint or the manic smile.  The wings sitting stretched on the mantle across the room with the mask facing out, the over shirt and kerosene soaked pants sat in a wadded mess in the trash. Wholly forgotten.  ‘Tomorrow,’ I thought to myself, another day and another set of important things to discuss.  ‘Surely Carrots could put two and two together’, with a slight yawn I let a deep sleep overtake me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for reading. If you find any errors or otherwise that you feel should be changed or edited, please leave a comment and I will look into it and do my best. Hope you've enjoyed!
> 
> \-- Leroi --


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I still can't believe it, this chapter has taken double the time that any other chapter has for me, and I'm still not fully happy with the way it turned out. But fortunately I've gotten it to the point where it feels right, I'll probably come back and do some edits after the full story is finished, but for now, there is still more to go. Happy reading!
> 
> \-- Leroi --

Judy woke with a start, today was a new day, something she looked forward to on nearly all occasions.  Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those days, a crushing headache from dehydration as well as the foreboding feeling that she couldn’t shake.  ‘ _I wonder if he knows…_ ’ the thought had ricocheted around for nearly twenty minutes before she managed to get herself into motion.  After setting a small cup of water into her microwave she sat down, facing her small desk and thought out loud.  “How could he not know… it was almost like this whole thing was set up, but why?” that was what she could never wrap her mind around.  If Nick really was a closet celebrity, it really wouldn’t be hard to understand why he wanted to remain anonymous.  But why would then why would he go to such lengths to involve her in it? The tickets, the sticker, hell the _songs_.  “Maybe I’m thinking of this all wrong… what if Nick isn’t actually the singer, but he knows them personally.” wracking her mind for other individuals she had met that could fit the descriptions of the other four.  She kept coming back to that day she saw him at the Watering Hole with those three others.

Her train of thought was completely crashed when her microwave finished its cycle, presenting her with a piping hot cup of water to steep her tea in.  Starting over, she figured that she’d invite him over to hang out and attempt to bring this whole idea up then. ‘ _And If I’m wrong, I just look like a moron… no harm done_ ’ with her trademark stubbornness and drive, she reached for her phone and texted Nick to come over before she could talk herself out of it.  Now all she had to do was wait, and not find a way to dodge the whole thing. 

\-- **Nick** \--

The satanic rumble of the alarm clock was something Nick found himself dreading in his sleep; hoping to a higher power that at some point the damned contraption would cease to exist.  Needless to say, it didn’t work, ever.  But apparently he _had_ forgotten to turn his off when he made it back to his apartment last night, because something was going off and Nick really didn’t like it.  Flopping a paw around his bed, then to his small nightstand, he felt around until he caught hold of the offending device.  With a rampant fervor, he yanked the cord to unplug it only to find that it was already unplugged.

‘ _What th’fuck’_ he thought, off put by the now quiet room and the fact that he hadn’t plugged his alarm back in after he pulled the same stunt the day before. Slowly the thought sank in, if it wasn’t his alarm, it must have been something much more important. ‘ _Someone is trying to find me… shit’_

While he wasn’t ever particularly a morning, or for that matter, an afternoon mammal.  He always was rather punctual during his time helping others and working.  Usually fashionably late to most morning things and early to events as they became later in the evening and into the night.  He had only ever been early to two things in the morning as far as he cared to recall; one being the band and the other being Mr. Big.  The thought caused him to briefly shudder, the simple fact that when the four of them started their band they had been entertainers to a couple of his events, was more than he cared to be part in.

Thoughts and past aside, he blearily reached for his cell.  Finding it buzz once more as the screen came alive,” Three texts, huh... Wonder who wants me now?” as he unlocked the device and scrolled to his messages.  It wasn’t long before he realized that the message had come from Judy, that she had asked him to meet at her place for an urgent talk.  Nick had put the dots together why she would ask for him to come to her house, she must have put two and two together and figured out he was in the band.  ‘ _Took her long enough_ ’ he thought as he left his home and got into his small car, headed for city center and the Grand Pangolin Arms.

\-- **Judy** \--

The grey rabbit found herself pacing back and forth in her rather small room for nearly ten minutes when she received a reply from Nick.  ‘ _good, he’s coming’_ she thought to herself with an air of finality, now it was definitely too late to back out of.  But that feeling of certainty did nothing to ease her tension, she was going to meet in person, what she believed to be the lead singer for her favorite band. ‘ _What’s changed though… he’s still the same fox I’ve known; we solve the Nighthowler case together… why is it so different though!’_ the thought almost burned into her.  It was the whole reason the band wore masks in the first place, they wanted to be treated as they always were, to be the same as those who listened to them.  It was only a philosophical point, but it spoke wonders about the musicians themselves.

A single knock followed by two more and a familiar voice claiming to be a representative of Ratgers College ‘Pizza Development’ program came knocking at her door.  Coming up to the handle, she pulled the door wide to reveal her best friend- carrying two cups from Stagbucks.  

“Hey Judy, you rang?” offering her the one labeled tea

            “Yeah, I guess I did” she said absentmindedly

“You alright? You seem… out of it?” he replied

With that, her train of thought piled on the coal and steamed ahead.  Unfortunately for her, it meant blurting out the first thing that came to mind, “I figured out that you sing for Predman Hell” before she realized how blunt she was “Uh, I mean are you? Like totally just being silly here… y’know, not being a morning rabbit or anything” before she affixed her amethyst gaze to his emerald “but seriously, are you?”

Taken aback by her absolute ramble, Nick took a second of silence to fully decrypt the explosion that had come from the rabbit standing next to him.  Slowly he took a seat on the edge of her bed, a solemn silence blanketing the room. “Well, first, you’ve always said you were a morning rabbit” chuckling, he took another sip of his latte “But yeah, you’ve figured out the mystery huh? The friendly vagabond fox that knows everyone is actually a singer”

His return of her bluntness with the exact same ploy of his own left her completely speechless.  He usually was never so transparent about things happening in his life, why was this so different.

            “How? How do you do it?”

“What sing? The guitar? I’d have to say that th-” he started before she cut him off

            “No I meant the money, the job… all of it; how do you swing all of that without being known by anyone or being on a record for that matter?”

“Well y’see there fluffs, that’s where you’re wrong” he started, leaning back to the wall “Plenty of mammals probably know who I am, what I do.  But I guess the ZPD can only do so much right?”

            “What do you mean?”

“My name, that’s what’s important”

            “Yeah, Nicholas Piberius Wilde.  I know that, remember? I printed out your tax files to get you to help”

“The only issue is that that wasn’t _my_ tax report, nor was the address you searched for.” casually taking another sip of his coffee, “While my name may be Nick P. Wilde, my _title_ is the important part.  My name is written Nicholas Piberius Wilde the second; after my grandfather, although I always found that to be far too formal for my tastes.”

            “Wait, what?” she gasped “Really? I never even thought about it”

“Most don’t, and I’ll be honest” he said, leaning in “I don’t really use the extra parts either, so of course nobody really looks for that”

            “So then who’s tax report did I print out?”

“Not too sure, it sure wasn’t mine though” pausing for a moment “Though you might have wanted to check it again, that red ink on the paper looked more like it was penned in after the printing.”

            “So what?”

“Prolly means someone was trying to get you fired”

            “Would you believe, that actually lines up pretty well with my first couple weeks on the force?”

“Do I Fluff?” the fox paused for effect “Yes, yes I do”

They continued their back and forth banter as the morning slipped on, an hour or so had passed by the time a grey wolf appeared at the door with a pizza for delivery.  Paying up and passing a fairly generous tip, Nick shut the door and strode back over to the small seats.  “What happened between you and Finnick when you were younger?” Judy had blurted it out before she could censor her thoughts to pick a better moment.

“Bit forward there Judy” his use of her real name sobered the moment away from the light-heartedness that they had shared before, “Not really a fun story, and I guess it’s really not one I’ve shared much of before.”

Instead of answering right away, Judy opted to take her slice and jam it into her mouth to avoid adding any unnecessary tension to the conversation, Nick watched with amusement towards her reaction, followed by the pizza.

“Too much of a minefield for your tastes?”

With her mouth full, she nodded, “mmhmm”

“I give you the shortened version; Barry, the tiger, wasn’t accepted at home because he wasn’t the same color as his parents.  Turns out he has one of those strange recessive genes that caused him to be much brighter white than the rest of them and I guess, uh, they just didn’t like it.  He needed friends that would be there to support him through the tough times with his abusive parents.”  Nodding at Judy’s rather surprised expression “Not all of our backgrounds are happy, Finnick for example, his parents were nowhere to be found when we came across him.  He played drums on the side of the street for pocket change, it was hard on him, I still don’t think he’s told us what really happened to his parents.

In a brief moment before he continued, “Who’s the last one, the black wolf?”

“That would be Jake.  Normally for a mammal his age, especially wolves, he would be a happy member of pack.  Probably just starting his search for a mate, stuff like that,” a sad smile filled Nick’s face “but it wasn’t meant to be, when we found him, he had been exiled from his pack to never return.”

            “That’s awful, why’d they do that” Judy was simply riveted to the story unfolding from Nick’s past

“He failed to come to terms with their coming of age test.  He was supposed to beat the living hell out of some little prey, instead he refused, setting the little rabbit free.  Those other wolves beat him literally within an inch of his life before they, quite literally, threw him out into the rain”

            “How’d you guys start a band though”

“One day, I started writing lyrics that felt right, they matched with the struggles that I suffered through.  They took our pain and gave a meaning to the way our pasts had gone, allowing us a way to give others a better way forward.  So we started singing, and since then, never looked back”

            “And your story?”

Nick’s demeanor instantly changed from one of pleasant conversation to a stone cold and unforgiving visage, “My past is a little tougher than theirs were… let's just say, for now, that I had a **_really, really_** rough time as a kit”

            “You mean the incident with the scouts?”

“That was one of the many, but yes, that was a major one” 

Instantly Judy felt as though the temperature was dropping, his freezing stare literally killing everything he looked at.  Instead of letting the obviously open wound sit, she instead jumped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug.  “I’m glad you shared that with me Nick… it means a lot that you trust me that much”

Nick’s warm smile began to return at that, Judy noticing the lack of a sudden change, ‘ _This must be what he’s really like… some of his walls must be down’_ she thought, finding it hard to believe that Nick, the carefree fox, had such a serious side to him. 

“Y’know, I figured I’d be the one to say that first… after all, you were the little rabbit that let the _savage_ fox take a bite” he jested “Though seriously, I’m not sure I know many other mammals that would have let any predator do something crazy like that” he finished, “other than you of course” he added to the very end, just as she started to make a comment about it.

As the afternoon burned away to reveal the starry night sky, so did their conversations.  Hours had been spent on learning more about each other, Nick had promised to meet with her more often and she had promised to come and stop by the music shop every once and awhile.  In this short time for reconciliation, Judy found herself drawn back to the words of the small fennec during their lunch the other day.  Leaning in to give Nick another hug before he left for the door, she pressed deeper into his fur, she could feel dozens of small ridges that crisscrossed his torso underneath the crimson coat.  Before she could even ask, he cut her off, “Now that you know about the band, I’ll see if I can get you some backstage tickets… just as long as you keep who we are between us and yourself” before playfully adding “or you never know what might happen, we might take you hostage and make you listen to our music for all eternity” adding a cartoonish laugh to the end. 

Looking down at the now lit screen of her phone, "Jeez, they're already calling me in for an extra shift tomorrow." she continued as Nick looked back at her through her open door "Don't be a stranger now, please come and hang out sometime... I feel like we've barely spent any time together since the case."

“Very thoughtful of you Fluff,” Yawning “I’ll see you soon Carrots, sleep tight.”  And then he was gone, her door now shut and locked.  Judy flopped down into her bed and stared off into the darkness, hoping to find some vestiges of comfort in her sleep.  Unfortunately, a couple hours after Nick had left, Judy still remained awake in her bed, thinking back to just how many of those scars she had felt under his fur.  It had alarmed her, not to mention the trauma it must have caused him.  But she trusted Nick and Finnick enough to know he'd do the right thing.  Hoping that if they ever ran into another issue like they had in their youth, that they would come to the ZPD first instead of attempting to triage the situation themselves.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We touch into some rather unfortunate aspects of Nick's unknown past, learn some new names and see some familiar faces. The songs that are in this chapter are 'Hand Clap' by Fitz and the Tantrums as well as 'You're Gonna Go Far Kid' by The Offspring. I hope you enjoy this chapter, the end is in sight!

As Judy walked out of the precinct and towards the bus station, a novel idea blindsided her, ‘ _if nobody knows Nick’s in a band, why didn’t he get into the academy’_.  Even she had to hand it to herself, Nick would have been at the academy for over a week by now, and would have had quite a bit of trouble if he needed to leave for any reason this many times.  She could understand a lunch break, or at least a visit with ‘family’ but being a lead singer takes time and commitment.  He never could have done that if he was in the academy, nor would he have the time if he was an officer.  

 

Getting on, she barely noticed as the massive transport vehicle started to move.  Instead, she continued to focus on just how Nick would have been able to juggle this. ‘ _If he took an option to start later… or if he’s waiting a season for *medical reasons*’_ many ideas rumbled through her mind, but she simply couldn’t put her mind to it.  There were simply too many different possibilities and she hadn’t the time, wherewithal, or the strength to tussle with this mental block.  When the bus pulled into her complex’s bus station, she extricated herself from the transportation and shuffled up the stairs, still completely ignoring every other mammal she passed.  Flopping into her bed, she slapped the alarm button, turning it off for the enjoyment of her next day off.  As the darkness of the room overtook her, she found herself resolving once more to find Nick and get him to open up some more.  Perhaps even coming to the bottom of her little mystery about his recent attempt to get into the academy.  ‘ _Two police references, one mayoral reference, hell… the chief too; Man, I’ll be surprised as hell if he didn’t make it’_  

 

In that exact moment, on the other side of Zootopia, Nick and the band sat in a familiar office with a crackling fire and small table.  Memorable claw marks and a frightening skunk-fur rug that covered an all to understandable threat.  Fortunately for Nick and his friends, they weren’t here on business, not by a long shot.  They were here to play for one of Mr. Big’s trusted friends, Kozlov, a large polar bear and a neighboring Don for the White Fang organization.

 

“Nicky, it is good to see you, no?” started the massive bear “last I seen, you vere asking Big for a loan to start dis band”

 

Smiling, “yeah, it sure has been a Wild ride eh?” snickering a bit to himself at the ridiculousness of the whole thing and the unintended pun “Good thing we were able to pay that loan back early, or who knows what would have come out of this” replied Nick, motioning at themselves and their gear

 

“Big would have become your manager” before giving a toothy smile “You know vhy today important Nicky?”

 

“Yea, it’s little Morris’ birthday today right? How old is that kit anyways?”

 

A rumbling laugh again came from the bear “Yes, my little **ditya** vill be thirteen tonight… this year he asked for nothing but your music”

 

Barry slowly padded up to the two conversing, “We’re honored that he wanted us to play for him, and that you’ve remembered us for this long”

 

“Ah, Barry, how could we forget such memorable musicians… some say that Gazelle is good, best even, but no… she has no soul in her music, none of the struggle and de life that you have.  Dis is what makes your music best, dis is vhy dey come back to you again and again.”

 

Jake was the next to find himself in the conversation, “Too many complements Kozlov, Nick’s head’ll explode” before Finnick piped in behind him “Yeah, I’m just itching to play some music” twirling his drumsticks in-paw.

 

“Alright, we’re ready Koz” fixing his mask into place “Drop the curtain whenever you’re ready”

 

\-- **Center Stage** \--

 

As the heavy curtains fell to the stage floor and were quickly dragged off to one side, the band stood facing the back wall, away from the audience.  Nick’s foot began to tap; once, twice, three times, on the fourth tap they all spun to face the audience.  Nick could see Mr. Big and many of the other bears he had met in his time with the Bigs', he recognized Morris an Kozlov sitting with a group of other bears.  Even with Nick’s keen eyes, he nearly missed the small green dress that Fru-Fru had decided to wear.

 

Turning to look at his friends, getting the nod okay, he began “Hello! We’ve come to offer our humble music to good friends, and to celebrate another year on Little Morris’ belt!”

 

Slinging his guitar off the stand and the strap over his shoulder “We’ve got some great music, you’re sure to enjoy.  Starting with Hand Clap!” taking a breath “Get ready!”

 

“ **Turn it up!** ” belted Nick, his voice carrying across the small room even though they were using small speakers “ **Somebody save your soul 'cause you've been sinning in this city, I know too many troubles, all these lovers got you losing control** ” at this, Nick stepped back allowing Barry and Jake to step up past him in a reverse triangle.

“ **You're like a drug to me, a luxury, my sugar and gold** ” Started Jake, Barry’s baritone voice filling in with the next line “ **I want the good life, every good night you're a hard one to hold** ”

As they backed off again, Nick stepped up, mask gleaming in the darkness “' **Cause you don't even know, hah!  I can make your hands clap** ” as the resounding sound of clapping filtered through ” **said I can make your hands clap**!”  Nick’s voice belted through the small auditorium, carrying with it the heavy handed meanings and heart behind his words “ **Every night when the stars come out, am I the only living soul around?** ” Taking a quick breath, “ **Need to believe you could hold me down 'Cause I'm in need of somethin' good right now!** ” reaching out towards the crowd, his movements matching the words as if he was merely an extension of the beat itself “ **We could be screamin' till the sun comes out, and when we wake we'd be the only sound!** ” at the end, not faltering for even a moment, his partners coming up to be near him, the three of them standing just in front of the drum kit that Finn pounded on.  The four of them continued together, the same way they started “ **My flesh is searchin' for your worst and best, don't ever deny! But I'm like a stranger, gimme me danger, all your wrongs and your rights, secrets on Broadway to the freeway, you're a keeper of crimes don’t Fear no conviction, grapes of wrath can only sweeten your wine!** ”

Slowly the group tapered off, the song coming to an upbeat end.  The small crowd was visibly losing their control, some already standing to dance to the music. Taking a quick sip of water as he scanned the now completely live crowd before them, Predman Hell hadn’t played at such a small venue since they had started.  ‘ _What a long way we’ve come’_ was all Nick could think in his momentary stunned silence.

“ **So, you ready for more!** ” he yelled out to the mammalian audience, upon hearing more than a satisfactory cheer from those before them he continued, “ **This is, You’re gonna go far kid!**

Taking a brief breath, he started to hammer the notes through his guitar.  The tempo and tune of the music changing drastically from the last one. “ **Show me how to lie you're getting better all the time and turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach.** ” he began “ **Another clever word sets off an unsuspecting herd and as you get back into line A mob jumps to their feet** ” Nick again, continued to sway with the music.  As the notes came loud and ferocious, he resembled more of a crimson swarm instead of a fox.

Using Nick to draw attention, Barry appeared at the other side of the stage, shocking the audience when the next voice they heard was so close. “Now **dance, fucker, dance!  Man, he never had a chance and no one even knew It was really only you** ” As Barry held the note, Jake started his on the other end. “ **And now you steal away take him out today! Nice work you did you're gonna go far, kid!** ”

Together, they continued, occasionally switching off.  Soon Nick found himself at the end of the song.  Turning to face directly into the crowd, he leaned down into his guitar and strummed harder than he ever did before. “ **With a thousand lies and a good disguise hit 'em right between the eyes hit 'em right between the eyes when you walk away nothing more to say see the lightning in your eyes see 'em running for their lives!** ” his conviction steeled him to continue, his paws a blur on the guitar and his voice crescendoed with the following beats “ **Clever alibis, Lord of the flies hit 'em right between the eyes hit 'em right between the eyes.  When you walk away nothing more to say see the lightning in your eyes see 'em running for their lives** ”

With their performance coming to an end, the flashy colored lights switched off in favor of the bright stage lights, each of their facades illuminated to fully reveal the visages their masks provided. “ **Thank you for having us!** ” yelled Nick, twirling a heavy black feather in his paw.  Flipping it once before catching it, he hurled it down almost like a thrown blade, the tip embedding in the wood stage allowing the Predman Hell logo emblazoned on the side to become visible.  Nick leaned down to look at Morris, “ **Never give up on your dreams kid, a little gift from us** ” before he backed up deeper onto the stage, the second he did, a second blackout curtain crashed down to block the view of the musicians as they broke down their kits and ferried the gear out the door.

\-- **Out Back, Nick** \--

As the last of the gear was put into the van, Barry and Jake started to roll out, “See yall later” came the tiger followed by Jake’s “Big gig next week, rest up, we got a lot to go!” before they were gone.  Finnick shook hands with Kozlov and kissed Arturo Big’s ring before he too made his unceremonious exit.  As Nick finished his goodbyes and started to get into his car, Mr. Big called out to him. “Hey Nicky, Nicky my boy, please come here we have something to discuss.”  Not one to be rude, or untrusting of those around him, he followed Mr. Big and Kozlov into his office.

As the three took their seats, Kozlov in the back, Big in his notorious swivel chair, and Nick in the guest’s seat.  “You know Nicky; I still remember the day we met.  I still remember the demons you carried, the way that it had hurt you.” pausing for a moment, “I wanted to make sure that you understood that when you came here with that rabbit, for the first time in years, I had no intention of icing you. Nor will I ever” pausing for an instant to wipe a tear from his wrinkled face, “Nicky, I saw the look on your face when I said it. I saw that pained and broken look flash through you, I remember it too well. I did that not to threaten you with death or otherwise” indicating the floor panel covered by the rug “but to make sure that the bunny stayed in her own business.”  Noticing that Nick was fidgeting, “Kozlov, get Nick a drink, a strong one please”

Both Arturo and Nick sat in silence for a moment as a medium sized decanter was set on the table, filled with two perfect ice cubes, and filled with an amber whiskey. Big continued after Nick took his first sip, “I couldn’t have the two of you separated, she would have gotten suspicious,” faltering for a second “I couldn’t bear to see that look on your face a second time, it’s a haunting one, and one I don’t feel fits your attitude.  So, Nicky, family?” asked the diminutive mob boss, a question light on content, but not in meaning.

“Family” Nick replied, the momentary shock of the meeting now gone, the strong drink having done its job to shock the jitters from him. “Thank you, over all these years, you’ve been too good to me.  It’s a shame you’re not a fox, Big, it would make embracing my father much easier” before he excused himself and began the short journey back home.

Kozlov still sat across from Big, the large couch having been completely taken up by the massive mammal. “Father eh?” he wondered aloud “How you manage dis Arturo, quite the accomplishment?” he continued

 

            “No” Mr. Big’s voice carried the weight of all his years with that one-word reply, “Yes… and no, he’s my youngest son, adopted of course.”

“But vhy him? What did you see in him as a kit?”

            “Someone who needed help, and had nowhere to find it”

\-- **Flashback, 18 Years Ago** \--

Nick was a loner, walking through his classes in a daze, not paying much attention to those around him.  Avoiding the gazes of others, wearing clothing that blended in with the masses of mammals in Tundra Town High.  Every day he wore a similar pair of a long sleeve black shirt covered in a matching hoodie and thick pants.  The black didn’t turn red when his wounds opened up again, he had gotten sick of hearing the worried voices of other kits as he would walk past, sometimes limping and others cradling and arm.  Anyone could see what was going on, abuse, such a simple term in hindsight; but for Nick, it made his life into a living hell, those months where other students would get him sent to the nurse because he was still bleeding.  All those times he would get sent back because they ‘didn’t believe’ that a mammal would be doing this to their kit, he never was believed, and eventually he became a stony representation of what he used to be.  His heart grew cold as ice, and his sense of humor all but gone.

One particularly bad night, his father came home absolutely smashed at nearly one in the morning with some other vixen, one Nick didn’t recognize.  His father burst into his room and dragged him out by his neck as the other vixen watched with horror in her eyes.

Nick screamed and clawed, trying desperately to get his father off of him.  Vivienne, Nick’s mother, rushed into the living room to see a horrific scene unfold before her.  Her little boy was being strangled by her husband, and there was another vixen in the room, “Richard! Get off him! You’re going to **_KILL_** him!” she screamed, managing to pry his paws off of the kit only to get caught in the face by a fist.  The other vixen screamed and ran out of the door, bolting down the road towards the bar she had come from.

Nick’s vision swam and swayed as he lay on the floor, the heavy black that had nearly engulfed him starting to back off slowly.  Something he wished didn’t happen, in that moment, he watched as his father’s paws closed around his mother’s neck and held fast.  Her struggling gasps and tearing paws doing little to stop him, slowly, slowly those thick paws receded away from her neck.  Hoping his father had come to his senses, Nick leapt from the floor to come to his mother’s side, only to find her eyes glassy and unseeing.

Already understanding what had happened, he reached forward and enclosed her in a hug, completely forgetting his father for the moment. His mother, the rock of his life, was gone, taken from him by a monster with no love, and no feelings.  A rumbling growl brought him out of his momentary silence and sadness.  “ **You _BITCH!_** ” his father yelled “ ** _THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!_ Always crying and asking, needing, we were happy! And then you came along.”** his father unsheathed his claws and took a swipe, catching Nick on his shoulder. “ **Without you! We. Were. _Happy!_** ” each word accompanied by a strong swipe, tearing through clothes and flesh indiscriminately.  Tripping over a chair leg, he crumpled under the barrage, “ **You want out so bad! Then fine! Take it!** ” Nick’s tears poured from his face as the world slipped into black.

The Next day, Nick woke up at a quarter to three.  He had missed school, but that didn’t matter now, all that did was getting out.  Throwing his books out of his bag, he exchanged them with some clothes before limping out his front door.  Having nowhere to go, he began to walk away from the school, his home, and the cold tundra hoping that someone could help him.  But he never made it.

At the same moment, Fru-Fru Big was getting a ride home from her father, the limousine rolling smoothly down back roads.  Mr. Big talked with Markov and a couple of other polar bears as she stared out the window and to the other mammals she knew from school.  As the familiar figures faded into the distance, she found herself zoning out as the scenery became more and more familiar.  Her focus slowly came back as a bright red trail became apparent in the snow, a long and; what she thought to be, bloody trail. Watching with rapt attention, hoping to find the source of the trail, she focused onto it and watched as the mileage past.  Soon a limping figure, dressed in very familiar black clothing, came into view.  “Nicky” she gasped, screaming when she watched his form tumble into the snow and not get back up.

Everyone else in the car had completely focused on her the moment she screamed, “Fru? Are you okay!?” yelled Arturo Big, worried that something had just befallen his only daughter.

            “Dad! We need to pull over!”

“Why?”

            “Just pull the damn car over, someone is hurt!”

Sighing, knowing that he couldn’t argue with his daughter when she got like this, he motioned for the elderly panther behind the wheel to pull over into the shoulder.  All but the driver of the limousine disembarked and trudged up to the sidewalk that Fru-Fru had indicated.  Raymond walked in front of both Kevin and Markov as they carried the small shrews towards the black-clad figure in the snow.  

Raymond reached down to the figure, feeling just how cold the kit was, he softly rolled the fox over, revealing the red that had pooled below him when he fell.  Raymond was shocked to see the kit move, much less speak.

“L-leave M-m-me… Just L-let me go” he croaked, trying to squirm away from the bear’s caring paw.

Ready to comply with the fox’s obviously last words, Raymond began to retreat from the figure only to be stopped by his boss, Arturo Big, “No” was all he said.

Understanding what Mr. Big wanted, Raymond again reached towards the fox before sliding his paws underneath the prone figure and lifting him off the cold ground. Quietly the three large mammals carried the three others back towards the limo, once they got in, Arturo knocked on the window separating them and the panther. “Pass me the phone Manchas”

            “Sure boss” came the even reply, not even taking notice of the extra figure in the back “New destination?”

“No, just drop us at home and take the rest of the day off.  Isn’t it your son’s birthday today?”

Nervously, the panther gave his reply “yeah, it is… are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, now please, time is a luxury that I’m afraid our new friend here has little of”

\-- **End Flashback** \--

There sat Arturo Big, swirling his mini-decanter, still watching the rapt expression on his colleagues face. “That’s the part of little Nicky’s story that I know of personally… the rest of it is his secret”

            “Well,” the larger mammal balked “That’s quite the life story he’s got… for all that he seems, so… so…” he continued, unable to find the right words

“Live, okay, successful, caring, loving, trustworthy” started Arturo “All of these are what he is, after all that he still stands tall to help those around him.” taking a light sip “what a shame though, such a horrible tale”

            “What about the father?”

“Nick’s?”

            “Da, please tell me he get caught or something, that terrible.”

Indicating the hatch in the floor, “You could say that” sighing before taking another sip “Through his last words were absolute slander to his son, still claiming that it was his fault until the very end”

Unknowing of their little conversation, Nick found himself flopping into his bed.  Tired both emotionally and physically from the eventful day, he began to check his phone.  The most recent email he had was from the ZPA, titled ‘Why You Were Refused Entry into The Academy’.  Talking to himself in the darkness, “Sure took those fuckers long enough” before he plugged his phone in and laid out on his bed.  “I gotta tell Judy” pawing his face “She’s gonna be so mad I waited this long to tell her” before he slipped his covers up above him and did his best to enjoy the remainder of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing where the last left off, Judy and Nick confront about something thats been a long time coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, i'm still alive. School pretty much blew up in my face, I actually got to watch this time as every iota of my free/spare time actually evaporated away. Still, I apologize for the terribly late chapter and if anyone is still reading; you have all my thanks. 
> 
> Enjoy! -- leroi

Yawning, Nick stirred from his slumber.  He had played a rather late concert for one of Mr. Big’s associates and had a small emotional discussion afterwards.  Not sure whether it was the conversation or the concert that took more out of him.  Leaning over to his clock and phone, ‘ten thirty…’ he thought before looking towards his phone.  Checking his emails first, thankfully finding a lack of new ones, before he moved onto his texts; there was one from Judy which was dwarfed by the sheer number of texts from the rest of the band as they held their chats about what could have gone better about the latest performance.

Pulling up the keyboard, Nick started to type before he slung the phone back down onto his bed and headed towards his shower.  Walking past two guitars, a pair of elegant pair of pale wings and a pair of stands with his masks on it, today was a big day, being the first of the set-up and practice days before the yearly Festival of Lights.  The crew had agreed to begin full on crew practices two weeks before the fest was slated to happen, Jake was already working on a new set of masks and Nick had already gotten a set list together for the big day.

With a rather extensive set list, Nick had figured in starting with Another day in paradise followed up with three others; Closer, Where did the party go, and Coffee’s for closers.  The difficult part of the songs wasn’t that they were themselves difficult, rather they were wholly new songs that the band had never played before.  In the vast amount of free time that Nick found himself with between the hustles he ran with Finn and the lengthy time between the band’s resurgence from near myth he had gotten a good long time to write up music for a situation just like this.

But more important than the upcoming festival would be Judy, more specifically, how he was going to tell her about the ZPA.  ‘truth works best, right?’ he thought to himself as he flipped through his emails again before coming back to the one from the ZPA, clicking it;

\-- The Email --

Dear Mr. Wilde;

I regrettably must inform you that you have been refused entry into the ZPA during this recruitment cycle.  While we do try our best to make the vetting process as streamlined and avoid doing searches beyond the preliminary, we’ve had reason to look deeper into your past Mr. Wilde.  During our check we came across these listed discrepancies;

• Tax discrepancies [Secondary tax reports, vastly different monetary representations, etc.]  
• A possible connection to Arturo Big, [Known Crime Lord]  
• Many sealed records [possibility of previous crimes, injury, traumatic experiences, etc.]  
• You were just a crucial part of stopping previous Mayor Bellwether’s devious plot, and unfortunately so, it seems as you might be too close to a pending case to be currently accepted to the ZPA

Mr. Wilde, it is for these few reasons that we’ve had to decline your application to the ZPA during this recruitment cycle.  I do find that your references from such a highly acclaimed officer and the Chief of Precinct One himself and our current Mayor are weightier than most we’ve seen.  Mr. Wilde, as it is customary for mammals to be distraught about not having been accepted to the academy, we’ve attached the next year that you will be eligible to apply again.  Good luck and Good fortune.

\-- Delphine Prongmore; Head of Recruitment  
906-276-5189 --  Del@prongmore.com

Nick Stared at the dark red faux stamp applied to the bottom of his email, ‘So it says 2027…. ‘he thought, attempting to put the numbers together.  “Motherfucker!” he seethed, the numbers finally falling into place.  “The audacity of these shitheads! Why not just tell me not to try again, woulda saved some motherfucking paper!” he yelled to no one in particular before stalking out into his kitchen to prepare some ‘motherfucking breakfast’.

\-- Judy --

Figuring it best that she get to his apartment early and before Nick decided to dip, Judy made hasty tracks as she turned her morning jog into the rainforest district.  Weaving through the winding rope bridges, she found herself looking up at his front door, ‘here goes nothing!’ she internally proclaimed, stirring herself into motion she continued up the steps and to the tall door.  Reaching up, she started to knock lightly, “Hey Nick! It’s me, Judy!” hoping the verbal addition would help him to open the door faster, the dark clouds on the horizon looked as though they were laden with a heavy thunderstorm.

The sudden sound of the door’s lock disengaging brought Judy’s attention to the now open door and the familiar mammal standing in the threshold.  “Sup Jude” he said casually, strangely the usual sarcasm was missing.

“I was hoping I could stop in for breakfast… mind if I come in?” before relaxing onto the railing, “it sure does look like a storm’s brewing” she added quickly

The todd stood silently, almost pensively, for a moment before relenting “alright, alright” he quipped as she was ushered in, “I hope you like pancakes, coz’ at the moment that’s all I got”

“Sure, sounds good to me” she absentmindedly answered, her eyes took in the room around her, the small cozy home was full of photos and other memories from Nick’s life and the set of familiar gear sitting in a corner; guitar on a rack, clothes neatly folded, a pair of masks and even those tragically beautiful wings that they wore at the last concert.

The sound of Nick clinking a fork into a plate with two ‘cakes on it brought her back to the world at present.  Sitting down, Judy instinctively reached for the plate, “Aah-Aah Ahhh” he chided “Not until you tell me the real reason you showed up here so early.  I mean really, you took a two our detour in your jog to show up at my place for some breakfast? I don’t think so, but color me curious”

“I… I’ve got some questions” she evaded

“Oh Really?” the sarcasm dripping from his voice, knowing he had caught her in a lie

“Some important questions” she reinforced

“For me?” he asked “I’m honored Carrots” before he placed the plate full of breakfast on the table in front of her and drawing his own off the counter by the stove.  Together the two sat in silence for minutes, neither wanting to break the terse silence hanging over the them.  Unlike Nick, who as it seemed, was willing to wait out the breakfast and simply not say anything; Judy had enough of this nonsense. “Enough” she said carefully, setting her silverware down and pushing her plate towards the center of the table.  “Nick I need to know…”

“Know what Fluff? There's an awful lot you don’t know” he hinted darkly

‘I promised myself I would do it… no need to beat around the bush’ she thought before steeling her nerves once more. “I need to know what’s happened with the ZPA, I can almost feel how tense this breakfast has been” she alluded “I need to hear from you what happened”.

In that moment, Nick gingerly placed his own fork down and stood up from the table and walked off leaving Judy to sit in silence, wondering just what happened. “N-nick!” she stammered, trying to recover the conversation, “Nick please come back” her pleas followed him into his bedroom where he found his phone buried.  But just before Judy could extract herself from the slightly oversized furniture, she found the russet fox back in his seat and a phone sitting open where her plate had been.  “Read the email” was all he said before he began to scrape and wash his finished plate.

Her eyes bolted to the first line, slowly trailing down further and further.  Coming to the reasonings in the center of the email, she found herself stuck on two in particular, “A possible connection to Arturo Big, known Crime boss” she parroted off the page, “Too close to a recent investigation concerning Dawn Bellwether” she continued, “These are all ridiculous, save the one about the taxes… hell, I bet I could explain the one with Big” she finished with a scoff

Nick’s uncertain gaze, the way his eyes drifted away from her as she spoke, all gave lift to the possibility that there was more than she ever knew.  ‘What was it that Finn had said…’ she thought, struggling to remember what the diminutive fennec had said about his musically inclined friend.  
“Judy, Big is my adoptive father” Nick explained “After my mother died, he took me in… took care of me, saw me through school, and financially supported the band when we first started” his voice solemnly tapering off at the tacit admission to the truth behind the connection.

“Wasn’t big going to ice you back when we burst in looking for Otterton?”

“Wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve been swimming in that pit, it’s the quickest escape route from his manor.”

“What about the ice? How fucking cold that water is?”

“That’s what fur is for Carrots” he joked, snuggling into his own coat “you should try it sometime”

Judy rubbed her paw across her muzzle before beginning again, “So what, he’s your adopted father, doesn’t mean your part of the crime part of the Big’s family portfolio”

“You’d be right Fluff; I’ve never actually been part of his Mob.  Generally spent most of my time playing music to forget everything” his gentle smile and honest expression telling more about his personality, giving Judy a greater and more in-depth glance at the fox he truly was before he would inevitably start to seal back up again.

The duo continued to talk about Nick’s connection to Big as well as many little things that really didn’t feel as grounded to their original conversation that Judy wished to continue.  Noting this, Nick cut back in a redirected their conversation back to the original topic. “Go ahead, I can see it’s been eating you up this whole time… just ask” he offered, a resigned look etched into his features.

Steeling her nerves one last time, “Have you done anything about it?” she started, “something like…” gesturing with her paw, “Call the recruitment office? Speak to someone in person concerning this?”

“Nope, I haven’t even spoken to a single other mammal besides yourself and Fin.  Besides, even I can see that it would be a lost cause to try and fight them on this.  They could just turn around and pull up a slew of other excuses to bar me entry”

“And you’re not mad? Even a little?” she hazarded

“Oh I’m absolutely furious” he stated “But I’m not all that mad they barred me entry, rather, I’m fucking tilted over what they’ve chosen to bar me for…” before adding “I honestly think that I’d be happier if they just left it blank or didn’t get back to me” frowning, “That look on your face suggests that you’re still looking for something… more”

Judy leaned forward, resting her arms onto the table and began to search the eyes of her compatriot, looking for any sign of deceit or sleight of paw. ‘Surely there’s no way he’d be willing to just open up… not this easy’ as if to finish her thought, Nick tacked a crucial part to the end of his statement after letting it sink in.

“But whatever we discuss, is to stay here… and now.  Never to be spoken of in the presence of any other mammals. Ever.”  The sheer importance stressed onto the finality of it was enough to sober up Judy’s now frantic mindscape, nearly to enraptured in the now semi-open book of the both physically and emotionally elusive fox she had come to cherish.

Breathing in, Judy put her strong and unsurmountable drive back where it needed to be. “All right Nicky, for starters” she paused in thought, “We’re going to start with your family, I know nothing about them and you seem less than willing to be the first mammal to spill”

“Your choice, mother or father?” he shot back, smug grin completely wiped off his muzzle-- to Judy it felt more like an unsprung trap than an honest clarification.

“Uhh” she hesitated, “let’s start with your mother…”

“My mother, Viviane Wilde, was about twenty-seven when she had me.  Worked through nearly all of my childhood as a waitress at a local diner, all up till I was about fourteen… I think”

“What happened!?” asked Judy, already enthralled in the emotional story coming from her best friend.

“I’m getting there fluff” he placated, “At some point during my ninth grade year, my father came home, drunk off his fucking tail, with some vixen I didn’t know.  It had been a particularly bad year for us, rent had gone up twice and school was pretty difficult for me to deal with on top of my father, Reynard Foxdale” Nick took a moment to collect himself, having let most of his emotional barriers down in the presence of someone he trusted so wholly.

“That Night, with that drunk bitch he came home with, he came into my room and was immediately pissed off that he couldn’t just rut the whore right there” Judy gasped, shocked and wide eyes at how blunt Nick was being, “So he wrapped his paws around my throat and dragged me into the family room where he nearly killed me.  Until my mom, bless her soul, got him to let me go” a small stream of tears beginning to drip down his muzzle, leaving long dark lines under his glowing emerald orbs, “He k-killed her, choked her until she stopped moving and then some while I tried to get off the floor.”

“Nick th-thats awful!” she nearly screeched, “Did he get caught!? Oh my god I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t ha-” was as far as she got, Nick fully cutting her off.

“If I don’t keep going, I won’t finish it… I’ve been keeping it bottled up too long” was all he could say between shudders, pulling her clean across the table and into his lap where he all but wrapped himself completely around her.  “S-so, after he realized what h-he did.... He just went after me. Clawing, punching and scratching until I fell unconscious.  I woke up late the next day, well after school had already ended.”  Nick took a careful and shaky breath, but before he could continue, Judy pulled them off the uncomfortable chair and towards the couch.

“Nick, let's just sit down, and we’ll finish this together. Hmm? Sounds good right? Yeah, here we go” she consoled, getting the fox’s larger body onto the couch before getting both herself and a comfortable blanket back into their previous position.

Wrapped in the blanket, with Judy once again wrapped in his embrace, he found the strength to continue. “He had physically abused me for years before then, not once was it that bad, but this time I was done, I’d had enough.  I threw my school supplies out of my bag, replacing it with clothes, snacks and some bandages, I left; hoping that I could find someone to help me, anyone would have done, but it was Fru-Fru and Mr. Big that were first to find me- trudging my cold, fuzzy ass through the snow to what appeared to be a frosty and cold death.”

“Nick” was all Judy could say, his clutching embrace was more like someone holding on for dear life than someone holding a friend or a family member.  She, in that moment, was his rock.

Nick continued, voice having come back to it’s normal strength, “This next part Judy, needs to… and I mean really needs to stay between the two of us.” the seriousness and sheer importance held behind it was enough to halt any words from her mouth, instead, all she could manage was a riveted stare and a solid nod.  “That was how I got adopted, legally I might add, into Mr. Big’s family.”

“What!” she inadvertently yelped, “are you serious?”

“Deadly” he deadpanned, “and for my eighteenth birthday, Arturo told me that one Reynard Foxdale had unfortunately swerved his vehicle on an icy road and had drowned to death in a frozen lake before the ambulance could get there.”

“So Big….” she hinted

“Oh yeah, big time… literally” smirking inwardly at his own joke, “And that was how I got free of that damn demon, and coincidentally, how music became my life.”

Slowly but surely Judy’s view on the fox that had since curled around her changed; at first she thought him insufferable and awful, slowly it changed to hatred and then to disdain before even that melded into awe, shock, and wonder before briefly settling in pity.  Nobody she had ever met before had ever lived through so much, nobody she had ever knew had ever had the strength of spirit, of will, to get what lay just out of reach.  She had fought her way to the academy, he fought his way through every single day to end in music.  With the warm and fuzzy feelings that came from having someone trust you so fully as to spill such a painful memory.

“Nick-”

“Shh, I need this” was his simple reply, a sheepish grin crossing his face as he slipped horizontal with Judy still in his grasp and curled around her comfortably before starting to slip into a deep sleep.

“I see how it is, slick, I’ll get you back for this” she vowed before yawning herself and following him into a deep dreamscape.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final concert of the Predman Hell band as they rock Zootopia to hell and back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Leroi;
> 
> I apologize profusely for the incredibly long delay on this chapter, life has a tragically good track record of doing the worst things at the worst times, but one family tragedy and a move half-way across the world later. And I'm back, and hopefully with even more time to write than before. As always, if anyone finds any issues or inconstancies in this piece or any of my others, feel free to leave a comment.

\--  **Nick** \--

Nick’s paws experimentally clenched as he started to rouse from his slumber.  A familiar warmth pervading his core, sniffing softly, ‘ _ smells nice _ ’ he thought to himself.  The sluggish and tired feeling that follows deep and calm sleep started to ebb away with each consecutive breath.  As the vulpine’s eyes cracked open, he managed to capture a truly elegant view.  Judy was scrunched up to his chest with a beam of light gently flashing through the slightly cracked curtains to give her a positively radiant glow that was both alluring and elegant- this view only became more beautiful as Judy’s own muzzle raised to place him into her view as well, the electric amethysts bored back with such intensity that he couldn’t help but be drawn further into their shared embrace.

As Nick’s eyes gazed away from his would-be partner’s eyes, they drifted off to the lightly glowing numbers displayed on his alarm. ‘ _ Six thirty’ _ he thought brusquely, their impromptu nap having encompassed most of the day, leaving them with sleepy eyes and hunger on their minds.  As if Judy could read his mind, “Nick…”

“Yea?” he mumbled

“We gotta get something to eat” replied Judy as she rested her head back down onto his fuzzy chest- one of her long ears draped over his stomach. “Sounds like you’re hungry too” she said with a smile.

With a faux-stoic facade, Nick looked down at the rabbit. “That’s ridiculous, I haven’t moved since we laid down. I’m not hu-” he started, but was cut off by a ravenous sounding rumble from his stomach.  With a look of mixed despair and disbelief Judy look back at Nick.

“You’re hopeless” shaking her head, absolutely shocked at the complete one-eighty that his emotional state had taken since their earlier conversation.

“-ly lost without you” he replied, smooth voiced, only a hint of his hustler tone added in

“Flattery will get you nowhere mister.  Now get your furry tail off the couch, we’ve got food to eat”

Smiling as Judy unraveled from his embrace before she dipped off the couch and headed towards the bathroom, Nick’s vision bolted to the slightly twitching tail that hung high on her waist.  While watching it swish to and fro, Nick sighed and rolled off the couch and padded towards his room for fresh clothes.

\--  **Judy** \--

Amethysts bored back at the rabbit reflected in the mirror, two ears casually raised in a rather aloof manner, these were all things that had become expected of Judy.  Her indomitable attitude was never lost- only transmuting into a slightly laid back, but still attentive, a poise that fit in better during casual events and meetings.  But as Judy splashed more water onto her face in an attempt to fix her mussed fur, her visage changed ever so slightly.  With her fur slicked, she could once again see the three silvered lines before her gaze shifted along and up, coming to rest on her own reflected facade. Selfsame amethysts bored back through the spacious mirror, ‘ _ why had Nick been so open?’ _ internally thundered the grey rabbit, the magnitude of the event wasn’t lost on her.  Nick’s emotional armour that had been bolted in place since the vulnerable age of fourteen, had been momentarily discarded so they could speak on even terms. As she continued, Judy began to dig deeper into their conversation, those visual cues that Nick had normally displayed- things she had begun to use as his tells- were all false, or at least they seemed that way.  The fox had been through a rather emotional time as a child, that she knew, the many other nuances that he had shared were all foreign to her.  That armor had never been dropped, even in that moment high up on the tram, Nick had kept more than enough of it to block her out entirely

While the lapine was far too busy with her reflection, Nick stalked up in a manner fitting to his ancestry.  Judy’s internal perspective turned external just in time to see his face poke out between her ears.  “It’s because  _ you _ , Judy,  _ you _ are  **everything** to me” as he swung his paws out to entrap her in a close embrace.  “Now, let’s get that food” before he once again disappeared into the din of his apartment with nary a single sound.

\--  **Nick, two days later** \--

Nick was the first to arrive at the Jeering Jaws, pulling his small vehicle to the private parking lot in the rear of the building.  As soon as he made his way out, popping the trunk open to grab his outfit, Finnick’s  _ elegantly _ painted van rolled into the lot followed by Jake in the music shop’s van.  

Looking over, “Yo! Jake, where’s Barry at!” yelled Nick

“You do remember that I work here right?” asked a familiar baritone from behind him

“So that’s where you went” smiled Nick, “All of our kits’ are at the stage already, we just need to show up” before he turned to Finnick, “Is everything in place?”

The Fennec turned around with a mischievous glare, “Most definitely, now the question is” pausing a moment for effect,” can you hold your end?”  With that, Jake butted in, “You wish Fin, we’ve got this on overdrive!” chucking a bag of fur paint towards the taller of the two foxes.

With that, the four predators began to kit up.  Nick set his paint on the hood of his car before he started painting, Finn took off his jacket before grabbing his own headgear.  Jake stepped into the shop’s backdoor to grab his own mask.  Peering over towards the larger feline, “Why’d you get here so early?”

“Eh” started the bengal “I needed some time to collect myself before we dove into this face-first”

The fennec was the first to reply to Barry’s statement. “I know the feel brother, s’why I stay a lone fox in my free time” before nodding towards his taller counterpart, “Cept when I’m needed that is”

At this, the three canines and tall feline dropped right into their kit-bags.  Each made sure to put extra dye and gel into their make-ups to further ensure their famous mania was broadcasted properly.  Nick’s painted smile stretched roughly an inch higher than it normally did, as he peered into his kit’s mirror he noted that it gave his visage a very lopsided bend to it.  The mask’s usually frightening smile that normally appeared to be crazed and distended was now less so.  While Nick and Barry got the finishing touches of their makeup done, Jake snagged his phone and dialed up Kevin, “you in place?” the assenting grunt from the other end was barely audible over the thrum of the nearby crowd- clearly revving up for the concert of the year.  At this, he gave a thumbs up to Finnick who turned to toss a hoodie to the other fox and the tall feline.

As Nick drew the hoodie over his body, he found that the hood was several times larger than it needed to be- wrapping his features in darkness. “Nice Finn” was all he said as they started to walk up the street.  Within only a few moments of walking, the crew made it to the precipice of the throng of mammals, Nick could swear that he could feel the warm-up band’s bass in his lungs as it throbbed away- the song was coming to an end, and they would be on stage soon.  As the aforementioned creciendo crashed down and the band vacated the stage, the stage-floor itself split apart and drifted towards the curtain edges and a new floor rose from below.  On it stood all of Predman Hell’s gear, and with a closer inspection, Nick could make out the outline of the glass versions of themselves that drifted listlessly with the movement of the stage.

\--  **3rd** \--

The fox nodded towards his bandmates and the four split up.  The taller fox padded towards the burly looking polar bears at the crowd’s edge, Finnick hopped onto the lighting rig- scampering his way towards the stage.  Unlike the two other small mammals, Jake cut through the right side of the crowd as Barry drove through it.  Judy stared out from her seat next to Ben, the portly cheetah seeming to have lost his voice after hearing that Nick got them box seats. Even though she hardly found the time to blink, she couldn’t seem to find any sign of the band- ‘ _ Those must be dupes on stage… surely, but where are they then?’ _ she pondered, unable to find Nick or the rest of the band.

Suddenly, a streak of black shot out from the corner of her vision.  Even with her quick reflexes, she nearly missed it as it impacted a spinning logo of the band that hovered in the middle of the crowd before it shot towards the stage again.  With her focus riveted to the dark clothed figure being thrown through the air on the logos, she completely missed the other three figures weaving through the crowd.

\--  **Nick** \--

With the roar of motion buffeting his ears, Nick sailed further, rocketing towards the stage ahead of them.  As the padded forestage came closer, Nick turned himself and grasped the handle of the hammer that had been tucked into his belt.  “GRRRRAAA!” he roared, one foot sliding on the mat as he put all his momentum into kneecapping the glass version of himself.  As it fell, he poured his strength into hitting the sculpture once more as it fell, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

The shattering of the statue clashed with several of the ginormous stage lights engulfing the fox leaving only a silhouette. In the moment he disappeared, shattering was heard once more, when the lights died out the other doppelgangers had been obliterated by their true mammals.  Nick nodded towards the others before snatching his mic from the ground where it had fallen to.

\--  **Band, Third** \--

“ **Hello Zootopia!** ” boomed the masked fox, met in equal measure by the crowd’s exuberant cheering.  “ **I hope you’re ready!** ” 

As the cheering died down once more, Judy could actually see the band seem to coil up like springs in a trap; waiting to be sprung.  Her attention was brought back to the band when Nick swung his guitar around to his front. “ **This first one, it goes out to all those mammals who’ve struggled to find it!... This is ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE!** ” Both Judy and Ben could feel the speaker’s base boom in their lungs as they let cheered with the rest of the crowd.

**“She calls out to the man on the street 'Sir, can you help me?** ’” Asks the red fox, pointedly looking towards the box that was opposite the band in the amphitheater before he turned towards the Bengal.  “ **Is there somewhere you can tell me?' He walks on, doesn't look back, he pretends he can't hear her** ” the crowd already jiving to the catchy tune, 

Barry turned paw, facing the fox to call back to him. “Y **ou and me in paradise, think about it.** ”  He belted back, the smooth peppy tune of the song only barely hiding the hidden feeling underneath the words, turning his view back to the crowd.  “ **She calls out to the man on the street, he can see she's been crying**.”  At this, Judy felt a pang of guilt… she could tell, could feel, that some of the lyrics in the song reflected her experiences with Nick before they became better friends. ‘ _Does that mean he knew?’_ she wondered, ‘ _how could he have known how hard that first week was…_ ’ she pondered, the song having already given her an emotional shift.

With the two predators at the forefront bolting lines both to each other and back out to the crowd, Jake prepared the pyrotechnics by shifting to fill the empty space between the two singers; ready to take his part.  “ **Oh think twice, it's just another day for you.** “  His voice seemed less practiced than the other two singers, but it held a sense of familiarity. A roughness that couldn’t be achieved by someone who sang for a living.  ” **You and me in paradise, just think about it.** ” As the wolf sang, the crowd started to chime in more and more, until they meshed with one voice. ” **Think about it, It's just another day for you and me in paradise!”** he finished with what could almost be mistaken for a sad twinge in his voice only for the two other singers to pick back up with the pace for the song’s finality. 

“ **It's just another day for you and me** ” sang Nick, his voice reaching back out, through the crowd and beyond the box,  Barry took up next, “ **It's just another day for you and me** ” the crowd picking up with the direction of the song, chiming in easier as the song came to a close.  Jake stepped one foot closer as both Nick and Barry did the same, “ **It's just another day for you and me in paradise, in paradise** ” with the drums fading through the background when the guitars and singing came to a close, sounding eerily like a heartbeat as it throbbed slower and slower, before stopping altogether with a bright flash and several huge gouts of flame spewing all across the stage.

As the flames died down, the musicians had all moved places, now each of them stood at a different spot in the stage; the drum kit having moved up closer to center stage.  “ **So!** ” boomed the russet masked figure, “ **Are you ready for more?** ”  With the crowd enlivened by the the heartfelt song, they burst into overdrive after the pyrotechnics, seeming to be frenzied.  “ **This one goes out to those who feel overwhelmed! THIS IS RADIO!** ” with the crowd cheering them on, Finn hurled a boombox style radio towards Nick; who swung his guitar to his back to catch it in both paws as he started to sing. “ **So many times I don't know which way to go,**

**seem like all my life I've been surrounded by lazy folks who just live their life no different from the day before.** ” it seemed as though he was pondering the radio as he sung, looking it over; seemingly infatuated by it, though it was short lived. " **It was the same old song so I turned off the radio** ” with the words, he reared up, hurling the offending box straight into the floor beneath the stage where it shattered into a hundred pieces. 

As the fox stood there, still singing, he seemed to still focus on the broken box. “ **I turned off the radio (radio, radio), I turned off the radio (radio, radio), yeah.  I turned off the radio (radio, radio)** ” As the fox stood there, in a seemingly sad moment, Jake walked up next to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back before he picked up the lead, “ **Step into the party thinking what the hell we drinking to? All of y'all in college but your knowledge lack the news.** ”  With the black wolf now pulling lead, the two other singers stepped back to echo their now changed positions.  ” **There's terror growing overseas and on our own soil!  They losing faith in those who govern, we in turmoil** ”

Judy was so focused on the change in the wolf that she nearly missed the two others pull closer to chime in tandem. “ **But we smoke, drink, love, hate, and burn oil, you afraid to add your bitter heat while the pot boils** ” the crowd, quiet at first; shocked by the violent destruction of the boombox and then the actions of the musicians, started to jive and sing along, bringing with it, a liveliness in the musicians that had been previously reserved. “  **You Thinking that the problems of the world won't come apply to you** ” roared the fox, backed up by the Fennec on the drums, “ **Whisper 'bout me cause I'm being more reserved, you a fool** ” the wolf, being pushed away from center stage by the two other singers, “ **I'm just focused on my future, doing what I can, rarely in the moment, mind is always on a plan!** ”

As Nick pushed back into the center-stage, he began to pour more of his soul into the lyrics, belting them out as much for his own as the crowd. “ **As an artist, as a man working his hardest, I'ma give them something real, you and radio keep your garbage!** ” The masked tiger closed the gap once more, “ **So many times I don't know which way to go, seem like all my life I've been surrounded by lazy folks who just live their life no different from the day before** ” drawing his part low so Nick could leap up and fill the empty space, “ **It was the same old song so I turned off the radio!** ”

\--  **Judy** \--

Without missing a beat, the band members collected themselves as they closed back in on their previous positions.  Even though she was confined to the box seat, and not anywhere near the front of the stage, she felt as though she was the closest to the music; nearly feeling as though she could have been the only mammal at the concert.  With her perked ears, she could easily hear the next title as it boomed out of the speakers. “ **This is Where did the party go!** ”  even though Judy focused on the music coming from the band, she couldn’t help but be drawn back into her mind and thoughts, especially about the previous few days concerning both herself and Nick.

‘ _ Does he trust me that much?’ _ she wondered, still both intrigued and frightened by the amount of trust the fox had placed in her by telling so much.  In the past couple of weeks, she had learned that he was a world renowned super-star musician that led one of the most popular band’s in history, not to mention in Zootopia.  But it spanned much more than that, he had chosen to pull her closer instead of hiding behind his barricades when it came to something emotionally close to him. ‘ _ It just doesn’t make any sense…’ _ Peering out over the balcony, she caught sight once more of the fox; twisting, hurtling, and singing his way around the stagefront.  

“ **I'm here to collect your hearts, It's the only reason that I sing** ”  even though they were so far apart, she could tell he was looking straight back at her,  **“I know I expect too much and not enough all at once you know I only wanted fun and you got me all fucked up** ”  sang the fox, his smooth voice carrying the words in a mesmerizing fashion.  ” **(oh no!)** ” Chimed in Jake and Barry from the side.  She couldn’t help but piece together her time with the fox through the songs, they felt so real, not because she knew why they sang them or why they chose to write them.  But because she could wholly relate to the songs, it felt almost as though she was a subject in question during the songs.  The revelation scared her as much as it did warm her heart.  Lost deep in her contemplation, she only managed to break through when the crowd’s screams broke into a deafening level.

\--  **Band, Third** \--

“ **Alright Zootopia!** ” yelled the tall fox on stage, “ **Are you ready for our last HURRAH!** ” to which the crowd replied with even more enthusiasm, clearly ready for the next beat.  When the fox turned to face his crewmates before turning back to the crowd, the lighting changed.  Red, tan, and white spotlights clicked into life as they swirled around the stage.  “ **Get ready for COFFEE’S FOR CLOSERS!** ”

Nick stepped up to the forefront of the centerstage, coming nearly into reach of the front row crowds.  “ **Oh  I, oh** **I can't explain a thing. Oh I, oh I want everything. To change and stay the same oh time, doesn't care about anyone or anything.  Come together, come apart and only get lonely when you read the charts** ” his voice echoed around the amphitheater, carrying a titanic weight with it.  Both Barry and Jake chimed in as Nick stepped back “ **We will never believe again, kick drum beating in my chest again.  We will never believe again, preach electric to a microphone stand!** ”  Judy found herself even more enthralled with the song than she had expected, all of the song’s they chose to sing were completely new.

In the background behind them, projected images scrolled through, detailing the year’s journey for the band.  Showing the first venue of the year, the peachy memories from their first concert in Happytown surfacing only to be overtaken when it showed their next venue at the Rainforest Docks nearby to the place that she and Benji had invited Nick and Finn out to lunch, coincidentally where she had first started to think of Nick as part of the band instead of just any other mammal that just so happened to be it.  The cycle of photos drew past two more venues where the pictures showed the band playing, one was a stage of some sort; obviously inside some kind of building.  And the last must have been somewhere outside of Zootopia, the scenery was all sorts of different and for all Judy could remember, there were no orchid fields in or around the city.  ‘ _ I wonder where they went for that one’ _ she thought, ‘ _ and where they found the time for it’ _ . Though her thoughts were quickly brushed aside by the thundering bass and  _ his _ rhythmic singing.

She could tell the music was starting to come to an end, especially if the increase in special effects were to go by.  A large picture of each band member’s mask appeared on a fourth of the screen as it advanced forward into the center stage directly behind the drummer and his kit.  The three other band members closed in on the drum kit, standing as close as possible.  “ **I'm a mascot for what you've become** ” Started Nick, facing towards Barry and Jake.  The duo clashed back with equal fervor, “ **I love the mayhem more than the love** ” before the three came together with their finale, “ **We will never believe again** ” echoing, “ **(I will never believe in anything again)** ”

“ **Thank you Zootopia** ” spoke the tall fox, “ **We thank you for your hospitality, for your love, and for your kindness** ” before he shook his fist in the air in triumph before passing the mic to the duo next to him.  “ **We hope to see you on our next tour!** ” shouted Jake as he and the other three stepped in front of the kit, with a sudden and sharp snap, the large screen they had been playing their tour scenes on fell forward.  Landing squarely over the band, many screams could be heard as the crowd watched in awe before a ghostly-blue projection of the band appeared over the spot where they had been standing.  “ **And we wish you well!** ” before the projection disappeared and the television burst into flames. 

\--  **Judy** \--

After a couple hours, Judy managed to wade her way through the slowly dispersing crowd.  Shortly afterwards, she found herself standing before the dimly lit music store she had seen Nick and the other band members at earlier, the Jeering Jaws.  Upon walking up to the door, she found herself greeted by four familiar faces on the other side of the glass.  “Sup Jude” offered the diminutive fox, “Whatcha need?”

“Just wondering if I could come in… I hope I’m not intruding” she responded

Nick was the next to reply, the other three having left the storefront in favor of the dimly lit back, “Nah, you’re not intruding, we’d love to have you here with us”  with that, he spun the lock on the door and drew it open. “Come on in”

With the foursome now back together in the back, Judy found herself immersed in a room full of Predman Hell memorabilia; photos from every single one of their previous gigs, old masks and even a handful of props. Laughing, “And yet, nobody knows?”

“You betcha Judy, I’ve kept this room entirely off limits to everyone” came Barry’s reply, 

But before Nick could interrupt, Jake threw his two cents in, “All except for a select few mammals that know”

“Mhmm” started Nick, “Just us five and the Bigs know about this” finished the fox before he turned to his fellow band members, “But… now that you know” he paused to grab something off the table, “How would you like to jump on board, another paw might be nice from time to time” he said, pawing a cloth wrapped object over to her end of the table.

“B-but I have no music-” gibbered Judy,

“Shhh” placated the fox, “We’re not asking you to be part of the on stage crew… but something more of a… a” turning to face Jake for help.

The wolf picked the que instantly, “Something more like a helping paw.  Setup can be a real killer sometimes due to our lack of help- y’know” he shrugged “because we like to keep it really secret with this” he waved his paw around the room, “And perhaps maybe spread some rumors from time to time”

As Jake finished, Judy found herself inexorably drawn to the cloth-cloaked parcell.  With deft paws, she peeled off the offending covering to find herself face to face with a stubby-snouted facsimile of her own face; the black and gold mask sporting a jagged, shattered maw stretching off to one side and a clean and friendly smile on the other.  “That, Jude, and this” said Nick, handing over a chain necklace with with the logo emblazoned on it, “Are your tickets into all of our future shows” said the fox smiling.

“Welcome to the family Judy” happily smirked the small fennec before tossing her a drink, “Now, back to business”

“What’s next?”

  
  



	9. Songs used for this story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As I've been told by a handful of the readers of my story, you would like a list of songs and links to their lyrics. I'll add the songs I've already used and continue to update it as I move forward. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!

**Chapter 1:**

  * No songs used



 

**Chapter 2:**

  * [Two Heads By Coleman Hell](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/colemanhell/2heads.html)



 

  * [Bleeding Out By Imagine Dragons](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/imaginedragons/bleedingout.html)



 

  * [Monster By Imagine Dragons](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/imaginedragons/monster.html)



 

  * [In The End By Black Veil Brides](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackveilbrides/intheend.html)



 

**Chapter 3:**

  * No Songs used



**Chapter 4:**

  * [In The End By Black Veil Brides](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackveilbrides/intheend.html)



 

  * [Bombshell Blonde By Owl City](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/owlcity/bombshellblonde.html)



 

  * [Angel With A Shotgun By The Cab](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cab/angelwithashotgun.html)



**Chapter 5:**

  * No Songs used



**Chapter 6:**

  * [Handclap By Fitz and the Tantrums](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fitzandthetantrums/handclap.html)



 

  * [You're Gonna Go Far Kid By The Offspring](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/offspring/youregonnagofarkid.html)



**Chapter 7:**

  * No songs used



**Chapter 8:**

  * [Coffee's For Closers](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/falloutboy/coffeesforclosers.html)



 

  * [Another Day in Paradise](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/quinnxcii/anotherdayinparadise.html)



 

  * [Radio](https://lyrics.az/abstract-rapper/-/radio.html)



 

  * [Where Did The Party Go](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/falloutboy/wheredidthepartygo.html)




End file.
